Review of Frequency

Introduction

In 1969, firefighter and Ham Radio buff Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) is trying to be a good husband and father. At the same time, a serial killer is loose in New York.

In 1999, Frank’s son John (Jim Caviezel) is a cop and still troubled by his father’s death in a horrific blaze. While he mopes around, new evidence about the 1969 murders come to light.

Coincidentally, at both times, sunspot activity is at an all time high and is affecting radio communications. Through a twist of fate, Frank and John find they can communicate across the years using John’s old ham radio and John tries to put right some old injustices.

It has been a while since Dennis Quaid has had a role which has done him justice (or that he has done justice to). Similarly, the time bending premise is a staple of cheap straight-to-video movies and precious few have made any attempt to do it justice.

Is this movie, billed as a cross between “Back to the Future” and “Sixth Sense”, any different?

Video

The 16x9 anamorphic transfer is OK but nothing more. Colour reproduction is good but the image is not as sharp and clear as is could be.

Visuals are understated; the emphasis being on character study and plot rather than flashy scenes. The most visually impressive scenes are those of the Aurora Borealis above New York. I’m not suggesting that the cinematography is lacking in any way; it is just subdued.

Audio

The DD5.1 soundtrack is perfectly adequate for the film. It isn’t a big noisy film and doesn’t need an imposing soundtrack. That said, more use could have been made of the rears and LFE during the firefighting scenes; these seemed a bit limp.

The score by Michael Kamen is disappointing. It is faceless and is just drama-by-numbers. Appropriate use is made of period songs.

Features

While not as feature-rich as the US R1 disk, this is still excellent. Along with the usual trailers, cast info and deleted scenes, you also get an interesting documentary on the science behind the film. And, even though it is not mentioned on the box, you get a commentary by director Gregg Hoblit.

The commentary is very good indeed; one of the best I have heard. Hoblit has a good speaking voice and a pleasant manner and obviously enjoyed making the film and the commentary track.. Unlike some directors, Hoblit doesn’t feel the need to fill the commentary with needless chatter. He is conservative in his comments but always interesting and relevant. You get a good insight into the making of the film. Running through the commentary is the sense that Hoblit wasn’t happy with the ending. Ultimately, he tells you how he wanted the film to end. While certainly more logical than the released version, I don’t think it would have worked as well with audience.

Good stuff.

Conclusion

On the DVD box, this is billed as “’Back to the Future’ meets ‘Sixth Sense’”. This totally inaccurate – nobody goes back in time and nobody sees dead people. The film also lacks the frivolous entertainment value of BTTF and the chills of Sixth Sense. The billing is also thoroughly unfair – the movie should be allowed to stand on its own merits because there is much to enjoy in it.

The premise does require some suspension of disbelief. Once you accept the fundamental premise, though, the plot is remarkably logical and events remain consistent with the internal logic set up early on. It isn’t a big story. Despite some detective overtones (and a bit of Backdraft), this is really a relationship piece. It focuses on the relationship between John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel) and his father Frank (Dennis Quaid) and, beyond that, the wider friendships within their circle. The fact that the relationship is built 30 years after Frank’s death and is conducted over a sciento-mystical radio link is both incidental and remarkably well utilised.

The film has been criticised for being too sentimental and mawkish, but I’m not convinced. Sure, it is sentimental. But the film deals with a son who has missed his father every single day for 30 years, and a father who loves his six year old son dearly. Bringing these two together, to my mind, mandates sentimentality. And it’s well done, and not overdone.

The scenes where Frank and John are talking across the ether and across the years are exceptionally well done. Apparently, both Quaid and Caviezel were filmed simultaneously, with the dialogue taking place in real time without editing trickery. This, I’m sure, contributed the real frisson during these scenes.

The serial killer plot device doesn’t always work as well. It’s not bad and there are some moments of genuine thrills but, overall, it is the human story – father and son interacting as adults – that works best and, sometimes, you wish for the detective interludes to end and the guys to get back on the radio.

The main performances are great. Dennis Quaid hasn’t been this good in years – maybe since The Big Easy – and brings a dignity and a real warmth to his role. Caviezel is almost as good, although it takes a while to warm to his character. Andre Braugher’s presence is welcome (he has never got the sort of roles he deserved since Homicide) and his performance is great in the 1969 scenes. Unfortunately, he isn’t aged convincingly (either physically or emotionally) for his 1999 scenes. Elizabeth Mitchell as Frank’s wife also deserves praise for her warm portrayal of a loving wife and mother. The scenes where Quaid and Mitchell are together are truly touching and almost worth the price of admission alone.

At 112 minutes, the film is leisurely paced but it’s not flabby by any means. The denouement is (as indicated by the director on the commentary track) not completely logical but is emotionally satisfying. I, personally, would have cut the very American coda but that’s just me.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie very much and it deserves to be seen by a wider audience. It is being billed as a sci-fi movie but it isn’t really. It’s a good, solid relationship movie with a bit of sci-fi and a bit of detecting.

The DVD is better specified that you would expect looking at the box (as usual Entertainment In Video do themselves no favours). The commentary is very enjoyable and the deleted scenes (especially the extended radio dialogue between John and his boyhood friend Gordy) add to the released movie.

A worthwhile purchase.