Product: Frequency (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Terrific Thriller
In Frequency, Dennis Quaid is a firefighter in Queens, in 1969. His son John, at 6 years of age, dreams of one day becoming a police officer. Due to some kind of bizarre transgression of the laws of physics, associated with unusually prominent aurora borealis, he and his adult son John find themselves communicating by shortwave radio, from 1969 to 1999, and back. John saves his fathers life, by warning him about an impending disaster he will face in a burning building. But somehow, something about this act has changed history, and caused a psychotic killer to continue killing, although in the normal course of events he would have died, thereby ceasing his activities. Together, Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel must find the killer, and stop him, before he kills their respective wife and mother.I found this to be quite an enjoyable thriller. The mere fact of having the father (Quaid) be an incredibly brave fireman, and the son (Caviezel) be a homicide detective, guarantees plenty of action right off the bat. The shortwave radio is a cool little device, it worked for me. There are a few scenes where the director shoots slow motion sequences of falling objects from the past and present simultaneously, leaving their synchronicitous moment of impact to imply a change in history. This was slightly overdone, I thought, but still basically effective. I really enjoyed some parts of the soundtrack, particularly the song played during the closing credits. All the supporting actors are very good as well. Noah Emmerich reprises his trademark role as the protagonists buddy, constantly offering brewskis, which he perfected in The Truman Show, and in Beautiful Girls.By the way, the physics professor they show being interviewed on television by Dick Cavett, to explain the aurora, is apparently named after a real superstring theorist, named Brian Greene. Anyone out there who enjoys the science part of this movie, and would like to learn more, should look for Brian Greenes very readable book, The Elegant Universe.Basically, this is a very fun thriller. Worth checking out.