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Review by Susan Granger
4 stars out of 4
Once you see this movie, you can't stop thinking about
it. "Frequency" poses the question: What if you could travel back in
time and change your past? That's the dilemma that faces NYPD
Detective John Sullivan (John Caviezel) who discovers that, while
using an old ham radio just when a natural phenomenon, an aurora
borealis, is lighting up the night sky, he is actually talking with a
man who died 30 years earlier - his ownfather. Back in 1969, his dad,
Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid), was killed fighting a warehouse
fire. But what if John could warn his father and, thereby, save his
life? It's worth a try, isn't it? But, then, if it works, the past is
inexorably changed, so what happens to the present? That'sall I'm
going to tell you about the plot. Like "The Sixth Sense," this is not
a movie you want to know too much about. Toby Emmerich has writtena
stunning, multi-layered thriller that's part murder mystery,
involvinga serial killer, part family drama, revolving around the
loving relationship of father and son. Science-fiction time-travel
fantasy goes back to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and Emmerich's
imaginative contribution is cutting-edge. Credibility is maintained
and continuity matches, despite thecomplicated plot twists and
mind-bending paradoxes involving temporal intersections with parallel
universes. Director Gregory Hoblit ("Primal Fear") keeps the action
fast-paced and the tension taut, shooting the ham radio scenes like a
live, multi-camera TV show. What's on the screen is totally
entertaining, emotionally gripping, and so thought-provoking that you
may want to see it twice. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10,
"Frequency" is an exciting, surprising 10. If you're into
edge-of-the-seat suspense pulling the cosmic strings of time travel,
"Frequency" will light your fuse.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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