Frequency Review
by Chuck Dowling (chuckd21 AT fdn DOT com)May 5th, 2000
Frequency (2000)
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.0 stars
Cast: Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher, Noah Emmerich
Written by: Toby Emmerich
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Running Time: 117 minutes
When you go to the movies as much as I do, you unfortunately end up seeing certain movie trailers one too many times. Such was the case with Frequency. Every time I went to a screening, there was the Frequency preview. It looked awful. It looked cheesy, sappy and ridiculous. It looked like a flop. Well, whoever put that trailer together should be fired, because in terms of pure entertainment, Frequency is one of the best of the year thus far.
Frequency boasts a compelling story line. An occurrence of freakish solar activity allows police detective John Sullivan (James Caviezel) to speak to his fireman father Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) through a ham radio, despite the fact that Frank has been dead for 30 years. John is able to give his father information that prevents his death in a warehouse fire, but by doing so causes other changes. Somehow, a serial killer's reign of terror, which in the original timeline had been stopped at three murders, extends to ten victims... including John's mother.
This is director Gregory Hoblit's third film (the other two being Primal Fear and Fallen). With all three, he's managed to attach himself to great scripts (this one by Toby Emmerich, whose only previous movie experience was as a music supervisor on numerous New Line films) and add equally great direction. Also, he apparently likes to have his films wrap up with a kick-ass ending. Frequency is no exception, the ending is unpredictable and incredibly satisfying. Hoblit is three for three, and I hope he can keep it up.
Now everyone can argue logic this and logic that all you want with the sci-fi elements of Frequency. But the fact of the matter is that time travel has never been achieved. Who's to say how something works and how it doesn't when it's never happened? Is it because we've become accustomed to time travel "laws" from other places like "Star Trek" and the Back to the Future trilogy and "Quantum Leap"? Yes, if you sit down and think about it, certain plot elements in this film probably won't make any sense. Most films are like that. Don't let that dissuade you from seeing this fantastically entertaining film however.
When Frequency was over, it made me wish I had seen it with my father so I could have given him a hug (okay okay, shut up). When you break it down past all its sci-fi elements and serial killer antics, Frequency is simply a movie about a father and his son and the bond that they share. It's touching, it's sincere, and it's what ultimately makes this movie work. [PG-13]
Reviewed by Chuck Dowling - [email protected]
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