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Frequency

Frequency (2000)

April. 28,2000
|
7.4
|
PG-13
| Thriller Science Fiction

When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal murders he and his father must find a way to fix the consequences of altering time.

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SmgBag1
2000/04/28

Frequency is one of those movies you watch, and when it ends, you wonder what you actually saw. But not because of a bad story. In fact, quite the opposite. With constantly changing and sometimes conflicting timelines, "Frequency" is a thriller you'll want to watch again and again. For it both asks and answers the timeless question: Is it possible to change a past event? Yes, but with consequences. The action starts in 1969, where the Sullivan family-father Frank, mother Julia and son John--exists at the edge of a dangerous life. Frank is a career firefighter, soon to die in a warehouse blaze. After a brief view of the sun with multiple sunspots, time flashes forward thirty years to the same neighborhood. Up in the sky is a quick flash of green light known in the northern hemisphere as the aurora borealis. John Sullivan is now in his mid-thirties. And his girlfriend Samantha is dumping him for being emotionally shut down. Some time later, his friend from childhood Gordo Hersh and his son Gordy, Jr, discover an old ham radio in John's hall closet. When John starts using it, he hears a voice broadcasting over the airwaves. He comes to realize the voice as belonging to his father Frank Sullivan, talking on the same physical ham radio in his time that John is talking in his own. John finds a way to warn his father of the "Buxton" fire, and if Frank just went a different way, he could have saved himself. Which is exactly what Frank does. But with Frank alive, that alters his own timeline. His wife Julia is a hospital nurse who prevents a medical error that would have killed her patient known as the Nightingale killer. He was responsible for killing nurses, and in this new altered timeline, that list now includes Julia, John's mother. So now Frank in his time and John in his must communicate to fix the consequence of changing the past. Before John told his father how to save himself, John was investigating the Nightingale murders, then including three. Now it jumps to ten, and as Frank crosses paths with the killer in his time, trying to stop the murders both he and John know are coming, more complications arise. Frequency most likely named due to how father and son managed to connect across thirty years amid a solar sunspot storm and the resultant northern lights. It involves a series of conundrums that must be overcome for both to survive. As you ride the roller-coaster of action to the climax, you marvel at how well this movie is made. And wish there were more like it.

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zkonedog
2000/04/29

It never ceases to amaze me that some movies, despite being incredible in what they do, don't get nearly the attention they deserve. "Frequency" is an example of exactly that situation.For a basic plot summary, "Frequency" tells the story of a father Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) and his son Jon (Jim Caviezel). After establishing the strong father-son bond the two have in 1969, the movie cuts to 1999, where Jon is a wore out cop struggling to keep is life together. On the night before the anniversary of his father's death, a strange aurora borealis effect (combined with a ham radio) produce a "frequency" that allow father (1969) and son (1999) to talk with each other once again.This movie is so compelling and full of real human drama that words in a review hardly do it justice. In fact, it almost sounds cheesy and a bit oft-putting to describe the plot. Rest assured, though, that this is about as quality of a movie as one can find. It quite literally has everything...incredibly real-feeling characters, a mind-bending plot, great acting, and emotional story lines that will have you welling up in both tears of joy and sadness on certain occasions.I am utterly flabbergasted that a movie like this doesn't get more recognition. Most people I know have not seen it (a crying shame!). It is also the kind of movie that the whole family can enjoy. There is no harsh violence or terrible profanity. Director Gregory Hoblit crafts "Frequency" into a genre-diverse (and aren't those the best kind of films?!) masterpiece that proves creativity still has a place in Hollywood."Frequency" is one of my favorite films of all-time. It tackles so many elements of filmmaking, yet manages to seamlessly weave them all into a tapestry of wonderment. If you haven't had the pleasure (and you probably haven't, knowing this film's relatively unknown stature), you are missing out on an incredible experience.

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oOoBarracuda
2000/04/30

From the Director that brought audiences Primal Fear and Fracture, comes another gem from Gregory Hoblit, Frequency. Released in 2000, and written by the great Toby Emmerich, Frequency brings the mystical to the reality with its touching story. Bridging the gap between a deceased father and his forever effected son, we see a supernatural coincidence bring together a relationship that was ended far too soon. Frequency shows the depth that special bond of love between a father and son.The aurora Borealis, an old HAM radio, and love come together to allow a father and son in New York to communicate with each other; sounds refreshingly old fashioned and lovely until you add the fact that the father died years before. A family man and devout New York City firefighter, Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) died in the line of duty when his son was a young boy. Our story takes place in the son's reality, 1999; a New York City police officer, John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel) forever reeling from the loss of the man he looked up to as a boy happens upon his father's old radio and plugs it in for a dose of nostalgia. Picking up a transmission, he communicates with the man on the other end. After putting the pieces together, John realizes that he is communicating with his father, in 1969, the night before the accident that takes his life. Desperate to have his father in his life, John convinces his dad of what is going on, and urges him to take different actions during the fire in hopes of saving his life. John's hope comes true, and his father takes different actions, only for the pair to realize that those actions create different circumstances, creating a new situation to overcome before the two can have the reunion they both want. Frequency explores the bond between father and son and shows that changing the past can produce grave circumstances.Jim Caviezel does an excellent job playing the part of a broken son who longs for the father that influenced him so much. You can see the yearning in the actor's eyes to be reunited with his dad. Dennis Quaid also plays his part well. There is a certain naivety essential for Quaid's character to pull off to make it believable; after all, you've got a guy on a hand-held radio telling you that he is from the future, and your son, when he's upstairs asleep. Quaid pulls off the endearing naiveté with ease, creating a character the audience wants to see succeed. The great chemistry between the actors, since it is largely centered on just the two men, makes Frequency an enjoyable film to visit again and again.No one event makes up the direction your life takes, and changing one event will have lasting impact on the rest of your life to come; these are the overarching themes I took away from Frequency. A great narrative to invite the audience to see the important of their pasts, and the effect of events of life on other life events, the film's message proves a positive one. It is uplifting for me to think that me and the events of my life are impactful to others and the events of their lives as well. The past is important, but no single event defines who we are, unless we let it, that is the lasting message of Frequency.

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vincentlynch-moonoi
2000/05/01

There are others, but there are 2 film themes that come up over and over in films -- amnesia and time travel -- and almost never work. Amnesia only worked well in one film that I remember -- Ronald Colman's "Random Harvest". "Frequency" is not about amnesia. It is about time travel. And this is that rare movie about time travel that actually works and is rather engrossing.One reason that this works is because they don't try to apply the theme to world-wide events. Instead, they focus on a father and his son over about 3 decades. The father a fire fighter, the son a policeman. As in common with such themes, every time the father and son intervene to change family history, unintended things also happen. So as they fix one thing, something else goes wrong, and then that needs to be fixed. And it all involves trying to solve some serial murders that happened years ago. And how do the father and son communicate over all those years -- the same ham radio that seems to derive special powers due to the aurora. A little far-fetched? Of course. But it works, and it works well. In fact, the way things happen is rather ingenious. And there are points where you may find yourself sitting on the edge of your chair.The father here is played by Dennis Quaid. Typically, I can take him or leave him. But he's very, very good here. The son is played by Jim Caviezel, who is equally as good as Quaid. Andre Braugher is a police detective who gets caught in the middle of a murder investigation that appears to incriminate his friend. Everyone else does their jobs, although none play parts big enough to deserve special mention.This film is done well enough that even though you realize the story is impractical, you find yourself thinking -- yes, that makes sense.

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