Pseudo time travel thriller manages to *almost* be believable while delivering an exciting story which grips the viewer.
Dennis Quaid and Jesus himself (Jim Caviezel) star as father and son in a movie about causality. Frequency's vehicle is that the 2 manage to communicate through time, the father being in 1969 and the son in 1999. The idea put forth to explain this rather implausible phenomenon is that Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights) are managing to interfere with radio signals somehow allowing signals from different time periods to come together.
Using this useful tool, the son, John Sullivan, tries to save his father's life by telling him he will die in a warehouse fire in the line of his duty as a fireman. The father, Frank, takes his advice to avoid death and is amazed when it works.
Obviously causality isn't finished and proceeds to add more layers of events to the story meaning that when you mess with the future, you change more than just what you think you affect.
This movie is great fun. It never takes itself especially seriously, and everyone appears to be having a decent time here. Dennis Quaid's Frank has a quiet authority which suits him well, and although his overly southern accent seems a mite contrived to start with, we get used to it. Caviezel, as his grown up son from the future, is pretty decent here too. He comes across as a man who's a bit lost, but when he gets a chance to talk to his father (Who died 30 years ago, hence saving his life) through time, he suddenly seems to have a purpose.
All the other players contribute pretty well as well, but this is really the Quaid and Caviezel show.
The direction is pretty good too, never getting in the way of a good yarn. It aids the flow really well and manages the old 'edge of your seat' effect well.
The only *real* flaw in this is the quite appallingly sugar-sweet ending. It's so sentimental that it incites nauseum. A feel-good ending is only going to work when it's not overplayed and when it uses subtlety. Trying to force the old 'this is a good ending, folks' motto on the viewer leaves a sickly taste in the mouth.
But fortunately the rest of the movie's quality lets it stand on its own 2 feet, and the ending fails to ruin it.
Overall, not bad, not bad at all.
Dennis Quaid and Jesus himself (Jim Caviezel) star as father and son in a movie about causality. Frequency's vehicle is that the 2 manage to communicate through time, the father being in 1969 and the son in 1999. The idea put forth to explain this rather implausible phenomenon is that Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights) are managing to interfere with radio signals somehow allowing signals from different time periods to come together.
Using this useful tool, the son, John Sullivan, tries to save his father's life by telling him he will die in a warehouse fire in the line of his duty as a fireman. The father, Frank, takes his advice to avoid death and is amazed when it works.
Obviously causality isn't finished and proceeds to add more layers of events to the story meaning that when you mess with the future, you change more than just what you think you affect.
This movie is great fun. It never takes itself especially seriously, and everyone appears to be having a decent time here. Dennis Quaid's Frank has a quiet authority which suits him well, and although his overly southern accent seems a mite contrived to start with, we get used to it. Caviezel, as his grown up son from the future, is pretty decent here too. He comes across as a man who's a bit lost, but when he gets a chance to talk to his father (Who died 30 years ago, hence saving his life) through time, he suddenly seems to have a purpose.
All the other players contribute pretty well as well, but this is really the Quaid and Caviezel show.
The direction is pretty good too, never getting in the way of a good yarn. It aids the flow really well and manages the old 'edge of your seat' effect well.
The only *real* flaw in this is the quite appallingly sugar-sweet ending. It's so sentimental that it incites nauseum. A feel-good ending is only going to work when it's not overplayed and when it uses subtlety. Trying to force the old 'this is a good ending, folks' motto on the viewer leaves a sickly taste in the mouth.
But fortunately the rest of the movie's quality lets it stand on its own 2 feet, and the ending fails to ruin it.
Overall, not bad, not bad at all.