Imagine, just for a moment, that thirty years ago, tomorrow, your father perished in a warehouse fire. A dutiful firefighter, he was attempting to save a young girl's life in this burning building when he had a choice to make. He could wait at the top floor window where his fellow firemen were attempting to balance a ladder to reach him, or he could throw himself right back into the midst of the fire and hope for another way out. Thirty years ago, your father made the wrong decision, and it cost him his life. What if there was a way that you could warn him of the danger. What if you could tell him to go the other way? If you were John Sullivan, you would have this chance.
October 10, 1999: John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel), 36 years old, has just split with his girlfriend. John's childhood friend and neighbor, Gordo (Noah Emmerich - Truman Show), and Gordo's son, are visiting with him. Eyeing John's father's old radio, now in storage, Gordo's son asks if they can set it up. Off on a trek down memory lane, the friends tune up the old box and attempt to locate a frequency. Gordo and his son have to leave for the night, and John is left reminiscing about his past and fiddling around with the radio. All of a sudden he connects with a voice.
October 10, 1969: Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) and his son John, 6 years old, eagerly await the Amazing Mets' World Series showdown. After an unsuccessful evening trying to train John to ride a bike, Frank settles down to a cigarette and begins fiddling with his frequency radio. He eventually establishes a connection with a friendly voice. Never could he imagine who this voice would turn out to be.
What if you made this unbelievable connection? If you were John, would you not warn your father of his death the following day, and attempt by any means possible to deter the tragedy from occurring? Of course you would. But would you ever consider other consequences that could result from tampering with history? Not likely.
Anyone who has seen Back to the Future (and who hasn't?) should be familiar with the concept of vastly changing history by just one different step. What could result from Frank's reversal of his decision in the burning warehouse? Because it is still very early in the film when he cheats death and goes on to live another day, you can safely bet that the film will deal in depth with this mind-numbing hypothesis. Yes, the past will be drastically altered, but since the father and son continue to talk, just how many more ways can they manage to change history? As the plot thickens with the introduction of a serial killer and John's wife becoming a possible victim, it is not an easy road ahead.
Although Frequency's script is the first from Toby Emmerich (Noah's brother), the film's direction came under much more accomplished hands. Gregory Hoblit, who brought us Fallen and the incredibly suspenseful courtroom drama, Primal Fear, handled this aspect of the film beautifully. While the switches between the past and present as well as the many times history is altered could easily prove way too confusing for audiences, Hoblit manages to keep it all understandable, without having to dumb it down to do so.
Dennis Quaid (Any Given Sunday) delivers a very strong, even sometimes emotional performance in a career reviving lead role. Jim Caviezel (Thin Red Line, Pay It Forward) makes a name for himself with a truly moving performance as Frank's grown son. All the other supporting roles are filled quite well, most notably by Andre Braugher (TV's "Homicide: Life on the Streets," Primal Fear), Elizabeth Mitchell, and Shawn Doyle.
An hour and forty minutes into Frequency, I was ready to call it the best film that I had seen all year. But I was in for a terrible shock. After it being such a well done film in so many aspects, it settles in for a vastly overdrawn, terribly implausible (not even taking into account the obvious implausibilities of the entire plot), convention-filled Hollywood ending. If the film had ended as well as it had progressed for the previous hour and a half, I would have debated between giving it 9 or a perfect 10 out of 10. Instead, Frequency barely earns an 8, disappointing after such a rousing, inventive, suspenseful, and truly moving hour and a half. It still warrants a strong recommendation in a very weak year of films, but do not be surprised if you are terribly dissatisfied by the ending.
8 out of 10.
Rated PG-13 for language, thematic elements, violence, and disturbing images
DVD Extras: As with most New Line Platinum DVD releases (Dark City, Sweet Hereafter, Love and Basketball, Pleasantville, and many more), Frequency is given excellent treatment on DVD. To begin with, the film is beautifully presented in its original 2.35:1 widescreen format. We are treated to four moderately interesting deleted scenes, though they are short and do not really provide any pertinent information. Two full length audio commentaries are included - one by director Gregory Hoblit and the second by the Emmerich brothers. A "new" feature, at least I have not seen it before, included is a full length subtitle track of information... a serious Pop-Up Video type of feature if you will. Also included are a 35 minute "Science of Frequency" very scientific featurette, a multi-angel Conceptual Gallery, the theatrical trailer, and cast and crew biographies. While the film itself is not at the top of my list, the DVD has so much supplemental information that it is definitely on my "To Buy" list.
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