Frequency (2000) 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, Andre Braugher, Noah Emmerich and Elizabeth Mitchell. Written by Toby Emmerich. Directed by Gregory Hoblit.
"Frequency" is an implausible, but entertaining fantasy that taps into one of man's primal fantasies: the what-if scenario.
"Frequency" is a thriller in which a father and son, separated by time, work together to stop a serial killer.
Detective John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel) who, after breaking up with his girlfriend (or wife, we are never sure which she is) hooks up his dad's old ham radio gear and - with the help of `the mother of all sun spots' - he is conversing with his dad, Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid), a heroic firefighter killed 30 years earlier in the line of duty.
Am I giving anything away by spilling the beans here? Not really.
For as Frequency progresses, history changes as often as diapers on newborn quintuplets.
History is first altered when John warns his father about his impending death.
Frank, acting on John's advice, escapes the fatal Bruxton warehouse fire.
But then traces of John's mother disappear, and it appears she has become a victim of a serial killer who was never captured. Somehow Frank's survival has changed history.
Of course, no one in either era believes John or Frank as they go about mucking up the space-time continuum.
The problem with movies such as "Frequency" is that they ignore the larger context of how one small change, like a ripple in a stream, affects the entire timeline. To cover all that, of course, a movie would have to run four or five hours, while a novel would probably run close to 1,000 pages.
So, wisely, most filmmakers and authors ignore this potential snare.
Written by Toby Emmerich and directed by Gregory Hoblit, who directed "Primal Fear," "Frequency" has an innocent charm about it, despite its sometime gruesome subject matter.
Much of what happens is predictable. The suspense is not so much who-done-it, but how will everything be resolved.
Quaid gives a solid performance as the hot-shot firefighter who is devoted to his wife and young son. A die-hard Mets fan, he uses knowledge told him by Frank about the Amazin' Mets and their 1969 World Series heroics to convince others of his sanity.
Caviezel, who was featured in "The Thin Red Line," is almost childlike as he makes contact with his role model-hero. He is good looking and macho, yet vulnerable and a bit dazed by the events that begin to dominate his life.
Also in the cast is the fabulous Andre Braugher as Frank's best friend and John's police mentor; Noah Emmerich as Gordo, John's lifelong best friend; and Elizabeth Mitchell as John's loving mother.
"Frequency" is not prime filmmaking, but it does grip you despite some of its shortcomings. It's a middle-fare meal of a movie, one that will not overwhelm you, but will leave you satisfied.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Bloom, an associate member of the Online Film Critics Society, has his reviews posted at http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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