IMDB Rating: 7.30, 21566 votes |
Taglines
A rare atmospheric phenomenon allows a New York City firefighter to communicate with his son 30 years in the future via short-wave radio. The son uses this opportunity to warn the father of his impending death in a warehouse fire, and manages to save his life. However, what he does not realize is that changing history has triggered a new set of tragic events, including the murder of his mother. The two men must now work together, 30 years apart, to find the murderer before he strikes so that they can change history—again.Actors
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25 Comments
Interesting premise.
I guess some people just need to see space aliens and ray guns to suspend disbelief enough to see it as a sci-fi movie.
Nowadays it’s hard to take away brownie points for a movie for "unoriginal plot" simply because there just aren’t very many original ones left.
Time travel plot holes? Hell I won’t even get into that. It certainly wasn’t as abused as some movies I’ve seen dealing with temporal issues.
Or maybe I just have a soft spot for movies about second chances. Bah, pipe dreams they may be, but fun nonetheless.
A girl I was dating made me see this one. Man, she was hot.
AwEsOmE!!!!
Yeah, big deal
Maybe worth a matinee
Plot: 3
Originality: 5
Visuals: 4
Acting: 5
Overall: 4.25
oooooh, I like this movie a lot.
story holes didn’t bother me - nice exploration of familial relationships
Decent murder-mystery. Typical time-travel. Weak (at best) sci-fi. [rerated]
Unlikely plot
The biggest problem with "Frequency" is that it’s unable to obey its own rules. Even fantasy movies such as this one have certain guidelines they must follow; the writers of this film took those and threw them out the window. They pay no attention to reason or rationale, and give no explanation for the time-warp criss-crossing that takes place near the end of the movie. Besides that, you really don’t care what happens to the father or the son or the killer or anyone. Everyone is portrayed as unlikable in my eyes, and the supposed tearjerker ending had me looking at the screen with a blank stare; I wasn’t moved in the least. Nor will you be.
knew the story 15 minutes into it. boring.
Not too bad.
It couldn’t really happen, but it was entertaining. The actors were excellent and I thought the director deserved a round of applause as did the writer. Rent it, it’s worth a watch.
What if I could go back in time??? More like what if I could get my $7.50 back.
Better than I was expecting, but pretty average overall
Bad Antenna
When you see a great, memorable movie, the experience is something to be cherished. When you see a horrendous, junk movie, the ripping of it is the most enjoyable part. And when you see a film that has so many conflicting emotions…well, it is hard to pinpoint what you cherish then. That is why writing a review of Frequency is tough for me.
Frequency has a very awkward premise, which sets the odds against it from the get-go: John Sullivan (James Caviezel) is able to correspond with his father, Frank (Dennis Quaid), due to some sort of weird concoction concerning sunspots and the Northern Lights. John uses this to help save the victims of a thirty year old crime mystery, since John is the cop investigating the murders. When Frank alters the past, however, John’s mom (and Frank’s wife), Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell), becomes the killer’s new victim. John and Frank must now work on a way to save Julia.
Frequency, at its basic core, is a tale of conflicting emotions. The film flip-flops between being a father-son bonding tale to becoming a mystery scandal. Neither side of this see-saw is great, though. Director Gregory Hoblit merely flips from one mediocre story to another.
Frequency also creates a bunch of nagging questions that are never answered; they just hang around and bug you. For instance, if you could talk with your deceased father over a CB radio, would you want to solve a crime mystery after saving his life, or talk about LIFE and how EXTRAORDINARY the conversation they are having is. Frequency is touching at certain parts — even the worst filmmaker would have trouble trying to deflate the high emotions of a father-son relationship.
The relationship does deteriorate, however, as the film shifts from father-son to a weird mystery story. Many parts are ripped off of another time-trek film: Back to the Future.
At the end of Frequency, you’ll merely walk out of the theatre (or just hit the stop button on your remote) and not think about the film. Frequency combats itself on practically every level (from the story to the performances). I don’t need to knock it down any notches — the film does it for itself.
You will not despise Frequency, but you will not love it, either.
Nice little movie, good performances, riveting plot.
I didn’t expect to like this movie after seeing the preview with Dennis going "I’m naht a cahp, I’m a FIYAHFIGHTAH!"
But that line isn’t in the movie, and the performance is better than anything I’ve seen the former Mr. Ryan do to date.
Put aside any questions you have about time paradoxes and stuff and just accept what the movie gives you. It’s a pretty fast-paced film, keeping the twists and turns coming whilst integrating a past that is so beautifully presented that I can feel what it must have been like to live back then. Even though I think I probably was barely aware of being alive at that point in time.
In short, good movie. Go see it.
What if?
If you blink you will miss the clues the camera is showing you.
A fun movie with a few twist and turns but not overly complicated.
Can we please cut down on the smoking even tho it does go with
one of the storylines. And a father who actually loves his son and
wife, how different.
Pretty average stuff
By far the best movie made this year.
This movie has everything….a lil comedy…drama…action…you got it all and its wrapped up into two hours. You don’t wanna miss some of the best performances this year (including dennis quaid).
A real surprise. Exciting and involving. A great movie!
Some holes in the logic, as the past changed, but overall it’s a good one.
Pretty good; didn’t lean on sex, vulgar language or effects - novel plot.
Compared to many recent flicks that lean heavily on effects, Frequency did not. The time-link via sunspots was wimpy and improbable, but could be overlooked. The plot was not complex, but took unexpected turns. Ended well. Solid family values type show for a change without everyone screwing everyone else and cussing all the way…
Heartwarming,: I’d see it again!
Surprisingly different! Captured my attention and emotions throughout. A father-son movie base, with mother-son relationship as well. Dennis Quaid is still the greatest actor, and the best smile. He is always exuberant. This movie has it all: excitement, adventure, emotion, and suspense. Reminds me a bit of Contact… Go see it! You can take the family to this one.
A captivating story mixing sci-fi and action with the importance of family.
Frequency (written by Tobias Emmerich) is an excellent story about the importance of family and life. It’s unique prescense gives it a Twilight Zone / Amazing Stories feel.
Revolving around a 30-year gap, the story takes place when John Sullivan (played by James Caviezel) uses his father’s old ham radio. Despite it’s dust, the radio picks up a frequency hanging in the air 30 years in the past where John is able to talk to his father (played effectively by Dennis Quaid).
(Special Note : To further yours and my understanding, I would suggest to rent all the Back to the Future movies and/or understand the concept of space and time. Where one effects the other, basically.)
Through this mysterious connection, father and son are brought together again through their own love for one another. However, this reunion creates a dark chapter that binds together past and present.
Now, they both have to rely on eachother to stop a madman and piece together a life that never happened 30 years ago … and 30 years in the present.
Mixing together science-fiction and thriller elements, Frequency looks to be the sleeper hit of this year. Go see it now!
I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to overcome the unlikely premise.
Bandwidth like sands through the hour glass…
I caught a free preview of Frequency last night and went merely out of curiosity of how the director could pull off a story line that uses a very strange premise in its storyline. I had no actual desire to see this film on the big screen (more of a DVD rental for me) so when I went to the theater I was more interested in seeing the previews (which were Titan AE and Big Momma’s House, which looks to be hilarious…unlike Blue Streak…but I digress).
The premise of this story is that John Sullivan (Jim Caiezel) takes out his father’s, Frank Sullivan (played by Dennis Quaid) old ham radio after his best friend’s son stumbles across it in a closet. After the boy leaves, John does not seem to think about the radio until a voice speaks from it and begins to strike up a conversation. John is quickly caught up in conversation, especially when he begins to hear tidbits from this mystery voice that parallel to his own life, ie. the man lives in Queens, calls his son "Little Chief" and sings "Take me out to the ballgame" frequently. These are all the things that he had in common with his father before he was killed in a firefighting accident.
Several conversations later, after it has been established that this is his father who is still living 30 years in the past (a very strange premise indeed!), Jim and his father quickly recount everything that has happened in Jim’s past, including the details of his father’s death, which in Frank Sullivan’s lifetime happens the very next day. With this new knowledge, Frank is able to save his life, thereby changing history as Jim knows it.
This is where it got interesting…
One thing you do not get from the trailer is the plot of the rest of the movie, which was very intriguing.
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As it happens, Jim is now a cop, and he is or has been working on a murder case known as the "Nightingale Murders". In unchanged history, this man killed only three women around 1969, but this changes after Frank does not die. The Nightingale killer was actually one of Julia Sullivan’s (played by Elizabeth Mitchell) hospital patients who would have died due to a lethal mix of medicienes a doctor would have accidentally given him, or so the storyline leads you to believe. BUT…Frank visits his wife at the hospital at the time his wife has finished checking the unsuspected killer. They talked just a little way from the patient so Julia is able to see that a doctor is about to unknowningly give the killer a dose of mediciene that would have killed him. She caught the doctor just in time, saving the killer who was then able to continue his killing spry.
Back in Jim’s current time, he notices that the Nightingale murder case has gone from 3 to 10 murdered people, one of which is his mother. From this point, Jim and Frank have to find a way to keep his mother’s death from happening while trying to leave clues in the past for Jim to find in his lifetime that will allow him to capture the killer.
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This may all sound very convoluted, but believe me when I tell you it works on screen. The director was very creative in telling this story, especially when showing you how Frank’s actions in the past effect Jim’s life in a very real way. What makes for even more effective storytelling is the strong acting by every one of the lead and supporting actors.
The suspense in movie really gripped me as I was watching it - though I had to admit I had to put aside a few scientific realities to completely enjoy. Aside from that small detail this is a film that I can definitely recommend.