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Frequency
United States, 2000 UK Release Date: 16/06/00 (wide) Running Length: 1:57 BBFC Classification: 15 (Violence, a bit of swearing) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher, Noah Emmerich
The star of Innerspace, DOA and that baby flick with Kathleen Turner has spent the last few years in the Hollywood wilderness. However, all that looks set to to change with the release of his latest movie, Frequency. Having raked in over $40million at the US box office alone, the movie directed by NYPD Blue veteran Gregory Hoblit, is a clever mix of Twilight Zone style hypothesis, cross generational bonding and cracking cop thriller. Anyone with a kind heart will overlook the fuzzy logic of being able to chat down the generations via a ham radio and the Aurora Borealis, or its equivalent. It's a nice idea that makes some kind of sense in this world of sugary sentimentality and black and white heroes. However, the problems with the movie are legion. Quaid plays firefighter Frank Sullivan who, like Kurt Russell and his mates in Backdraft, have the ability to tackle fires without the aid of breathing equipment. Now my knowledge of US firefighting in the late Sixties is minimal but I know that leaving a tray of burgers on a high heat will create enough smoke after five minutes to make an atmosphere unbreathable, so a warehouse on fire has to create the same effect. Frank soon discovers he can chat to his son (James Caviezel) in the future via a ham radio. They soon become enmeshed in a murder case and many a paradox previously explored in movies such as the Back to the Future trilogy and Bill and Ted movies are dusted down and regenerated for a 21st century audience.
However, the film is so full of wholesome images of family life and typical cliches that European viewers at least may feel the urge to run to the foyer to stop laughing. Every five minutes, 'I love you dad' seems to be the dialogue or the undertone. Fair play in a piece about loss and the need for a kid to bond with his lost father. Alas, the sugar coated sentimentality does get so thick at times that the audience is in danger of choking. Once you get past the obvious charm of this hypothesis, the characters have to have something to do apart from just chat and this being a movie from the man who helped bring us NYPD Blue, there's no shock when a murder case turns out to be the main impetus for the story. Hoblit's previous flick, Fallen, turned out to be one of the biggest letdowns of 1998. One of the few movies i've seen that aids insomnia. The pacing here is a lot sharper and some of the imagery is quite clever. Quaid's escape from a burning building is fresh, albeit wholly ridiculous and Hoblit does love his slow mo shots of objects falling at the same time, 30 years apart. Frequency is not a bad film. For the bulk, it's a good crowd pleaser, with a few shocks here and there. However, some of the scenes are absurd and that final cheesy song will leave many people running for the exits long before the closing credits roll.
 © 2000 Roger Crow
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