Frequency (28 April 2000)
directed by Gregory Hoblit
starring Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell, André Braugher, Noah Emmerich
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MPAA rating: Studio: New Line Cinema Script: Tobias Emmerich Music: Michael Kamen Running time: 117 minutes Tags: Aurora Borealis; baseball; guns; murder; nurses; radios; Science Fiction; Thriller Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for intense violence and disturbing images
What if you could send a message back in time to your parents? What would you change about your past? Through a quirk of sunspot activity, John (James Caviezel), a modern-day New York policeman, and can talk to his father Frank (Dennis Quaid), a fireman, back in 1969. John chooses to warn his father about warehouse fire where Frank dies.
But changing events in the past radically changes events in 1999. Suddenly, John's mother, Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell), has fallen victim to a mass-murder. In the old timeline where Frank died, the murder (Shawn Doyle) only claimed three victims, but in the altered timeline, the murder claims nine victims. John and Frank decide that morally they must do all they can to prevent the murders, and especially the murder of John's mother. The resulting twists to the timeline create white- knuckle suspense, especially as John and Frank continue to make and deal with changes to the timeline.
Frequency does have a few tedious moments. Whenever the timeline changes, Hoblit switches to slow motion and interleaves scenes of the past, the present, and a falling object. The first falling object, a shot glass, works well because it represents the radical change that one person's life can make on the future. Subsequent use of falling objects assumes that I wouldn't recognize the timeline change without this blatant device.
Also, the changing timeline supplants any need for changes of character. At the start, John's girlfriend leaves him because he refuses to change. We never really find out what he won't change, but obviously, his problems relate directly to losing his father. In most movies, John would have to confront his problems to bring about meaningful change and. Since John restores his father in his past, those character flaws seem to suddenly vanish. Quaid and Caviezel both provide convincing performances, so much so, that the total familial love barely avoids going over the edge into pure sappiness. So if you cry at movies, take a hanky to Frequency.
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