Déjà Vu (1998) review

Henry Jaglom has a history of being called a lot of things - some of them not very nice - but has never let those words alter the way he works or directs or writes. Yes, this virtually unknown independent filmmaker (who was friends with Orson Welles and remains chummy with the troubled but intelligent Peter Bogdanovich) has, for many years, made exactly the same kinds of films. Above all, I guess you could use the old Sarris-Truffaut-Cahiers-Du-Cinema term 'auteur' to describe him and the consistent control/authorship over his creations (we will, for the time being, ditch Barthes' "The Death of the Author" argument). His creations are rambling, pretentious, sophomoric and self-centered. They're also amazingly personal and quirky and interesting in an Eric-Rohmer-lets-talk-about-love-and-life kinda way ... except Rohmer knew when the gig was up.