KANSAS CITY STAR (MAY 22, 1998)

BY ROBERT BUTLER

(NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE)

Henry Jaglom's "DEJA VU" is the most satisfying romance we're likely to see this year-supremely smart, carefully observed, compelling and wonderfully effective in selling us on the idea that Fate is ruthless when it wants two people to get together.

Dana (Victoria Foyt, who is also Mrs. Jaglom and who co-wrote the screenplay with him) is an American businesswoman visiting Jerusalem. She's approached at an outdoor cafe by a cultivated older woman (Aviva Marks) who relates how, after World War II, she fell in love with an American soldier.

Both realized that this was the love of their lives, but the GI returned home and, despite his promises, never returned. She married and had a child and settled down to a contented existence but always regretted missing her one chance for true happiness.

After the woman mysteriously vanishes, Dana is troubled. Her own long engagement to her business partner, Alex (Michael Brandon), is comfortable and cozy ? but uninspired. Should she settle for just OK?

Then Fate steps in. On a whim, Dana interrupts her journey to London and Alex to visit Dover. High on the white cliffs she encounters a man painting a landscape. He's Sean (Stephen Dillane), and both of them know at first sight that this is it. This isn't just sexual attraction ? we're talking soul mates.

But of course that's ridiculous. Although they seem able to read each other's minds, Dana and Sean already have lives and responsibilities. Sane folk don't throw away their entire pasts because of one fluke encounter.

Fate, however, is insistent. Reunited with Alex at the London home of an aging couple (Noel Harrison and Anna Massey, in a warmly funny study of domesticity), Dana is blown away to find that there's another house guest ....

This is undoubtedly the best film yet from Jaglom, a fiercely independent writer/director whose heavily improvised work has often been obsessively self-referential. "DEJA VU" is more heavily structured than any of his previous films; in fact it achieves a near-perfect blend of plot and naturalistic dialogue, with just enough improvisation to keep things from looking too stagy.

If the story seems pure Hollywood, be assured that its execution is subtle, low-key and insightful. These people act almost as if there wasn't a camera recording their conversations; fantastic coincidences are presented so matter-of-factly that we accept them without protest, though they remain a source of great amusement.

The delightfully underplayed performances couldn't be better. Foyt, in particular, has developed into a terrific performer, and the fact that she looks like a real person instead of a movie star is a distinct plus. Her ping-ponging emotions are both heartbreaking and hilarious, and Dillane ("WELCOME TO SARAJAVO") is her perfect match, offering a sort of male reflection of her personality.

But it's not just their story. Vanessa Redgrave makes a delicious appearance as another London houseguest, a Bohemian who is unfailingly true to her impulses, even though they haven't made her life easy. The great Rachel Kempson appears as her mother. (Kempson really is Redgrave's mom.)

And then there's Glynis Barber, playing Sean's wife, a maker of TV commercials. Like Brandon's Alex, she's a nice enough person that we instantly understand why Dana and Sean agonize over making a hash of their old relationships.

If they did nothing else, the movies would matter because they allow us to experience feelings and circumstances that real life almost never provides. Most of us will never be blindsided by overwhelming romantic love. But "DEJA VU" lets us imagine, if only for a couple of hours, that we are in the thrall of emotions almost greater than mere humans can tolerate.