Frequency

Written by Toby Emmerich, Frequency details the time-travel shenanigans that ensue after a 36-year-old cop (Jim Caviezel’s John Sullivan) begins communicating with his long-dead father (Dennis Quaid’s Frank) through a CB radio (with the help of mysterious solar flares). It’s an appealingly out-there premise that’s employed to perpetually captivating effect by filmmaker Gregory Hoblit, as the director does a superb job of establishing Caviezel and Quaid’s respective figures and the irresistible father/son bond that slowly begins to develop between the two – with Frequency at its best when focused on the characters’ initially-tentative-but-eventually-probing conversations. The time-travel aspect of Emmerich’s narrative also contributes heavily to the movie’s consistently engrossing vibe, to be sure, and it’s difficult not to get a kick out the protagonists’ efforts at fixing the problems wrought by their timeline changes. And while the somewhat overlong running time does result in a few lulls in the film’s second half (ie there’s perhaps a little too much emphasis on Frank and John’s investigation into a series of ’60s murders), Frequency boasts an undercurrent of agreeable sentimentality that compensates for a sporadically erratic sense of pacing – with, especially, the film building to an emotional and thoroughly affecting final stretch. The end result is a compelling, memorable piece of work that effectively balances its sci-fi and family-drama elements, and it’s clear that Frequency belongs in the pantheon of flicks expertly designed to elicit tears from men.

***1/2 out of ****