Project: Blog Different

To follow up my post on the Sci-Fi, Musical, Action, Dramatic-Comedy that was Southland Tales, I thought I would write about one of my all time favorite movies, and one that really hasn’t gotten a lot of respect since it came out 9 years ago: Frequency.

The premise is a fairly basic sci-fi plot: an aurora borealis causes a time rift in which a son can speak to his long deceased father via their old transistor radio.

The story though, is far better than your average sci-fi flick. The characters are deep, well acted, and feel awfully (read: awesomely) real. In addition to the intriguing plot and the good characters though, was that the film actually did make you feel things, an aspect which is often lost in action/sci-fi films. The father-son relationship, as well as the relationships of the two main charactors with the women in their lives, is well executed and definitely touching.

What puts the movie over the top though in my mind though, is the role that the New York Mets play. Dennis Quaid’s story takes place in the late 1960’s as the Mets win their first championship, and Jim Caviezel’s takes place in 1999 as the Mets are just starting to get good again. The two discuss baseball throughout the film and its Jim’s character’s telling of the 69′ series which eventually convinces Quaid’s character that they are really talking to each other. On a random note, the film also has a very young Michael Cera in one of his earliest roles.

Last note before I stop gushing about Frequency. I’m also extremely glad this film came out in 2000, and is set in 1999, and not after the September 11th attacks. The entire film is about the NYPD and NYFD, and in an honest and equally heroic/violent light. Any versions of this which could have come out later might have become a glossier take and reached for the artificial sentience which so many films did in the past 8 years. I guess that’s what I liked about the film though, was how it portrayed two of my favorite decades, the 60’s and the 90s, all connected by a little science fiction, and baseball.

Less than twenty two days remaining, for those counting.

What’s that voice in my head? I should actually discuss some critiques with the film too if I’m trying to give it a halfway decent review? I suppose that makes sense.

The film is incredibly male dominated. The only female character who is the least bit strong is Dennis Quaid’s wife, but even she is victimized later on in the film (sorry for the spoiler). The other female characters are minor at best, and while well acted, the script does lack in that department. My only other real qualm is that I’d love more explanation for how the Aurora opened the rift in time. While I’m certainly willing to suspend lots of disbelief, I’d love some sort of explanation on how it all happened, even if its full of faux-science.

This sort of movie is oddly refreshing. While its a good action/sci-fi which subtly pulls at your heart, it does so in a somewhat real manner, not a contrived “I’m going to make you cry” fashion like a Closer, or well any Lifetime movie. If you haven’t seen it, give it a peek, and if you have, then thanks for reading this far down in the entry.