OK, so “Frequency’s” premise sounds hokey, and you do wince a little when you realize what sort of trip the movie intends to take you on. But director Gregory Hoblit (“Primal Fear”) has made a touching thriller, a movie that’s particularly hard to resist if there are things you never said to your own dad because you didn’t have the chance, the inclination or the right ham radio.
Once they’ve made contact, John sets about saving his dad’s life, telling him precisely how to rescue a girl from a factory fire the next day. Unfortunately, as in most time-travel flicks, John’s tinkering with the past screws up the present. Various dominoes fall. Soon John must save the life of another loved one–this time from a serial killer back in ‘69. The ensuing thriller plot is too ordinary, and Caviezel–a terrific, understated presence here, as he was in “The Thin Red Line” –drops out of the movie for too long once he’s put his dad on the trail of the bad guy. “Frequency” gets back on track in the end. The movie’s at its best when it’s trying to make your heart ache, not pound.
FrequencyNew Line Cinema Open
