The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 260 Days to go: 257
Movie #117: Frequency
Some people think time is immutable, that whatever happens was always going to happen and even the little things you do to make changes in your life either do not impact, or are part of, the grand design. Whatever happens is what was always meant to happen, and nothing can change that. I, however, feel differently. I’ve been in a few situations myself where I was aware of how a small change in how I acted or what I said would’ve made a huge difference in the outcome — where, for a brief moment, the roadmap of my life came to a distinctive fork that I could see before me as well as the roads in my own neighborhood, and I was keenly cognizant of the fact that the path I took would influence everything that came afterward. Sometimes I didn’t see it until it had just gone by — like realizing a split second too late which exit to take on the highway — and sometimes in those cases it’s simply too late to go back. Other times I’ve noticed its approach, and I’ve prepared myself for the choice. Regardless of the details, though, I’ve seen those moments, I’ve felt those moments. There are absolutely moments in life that can change everything, and one of the reasons I love Frequency so much is that it deals with these tiny moments. Even better, it handles them in a practical rather than an existential way.
Dennis Quaid is Frank Sullivan, a firefighter in 1969 Queens. Jim Caviezel is Frank’s son John, a cop in 1999 Queens. Through the magic of HAM radio and solar flares, they connect across the years (John has taken over the house he grew up in, so they’re sharing the same space, just in different times) for the first time since Frank’s untimely death in a fire the following day. The moment they realize who they’re talking to, when Frank burns the desk and John sees the burn appear thirty years after the fact, I can’t contain my squeals of glee. HE BURNED THE DESK AND IT SUDDENLY APPEARED ON THE FUTURE DESK. (Seriously: Squeals of Glee.)
Just as anyone would do if given the chance to talk to their deceased father the day before his completely preventable death, John’s first instinct is to desperately plead with his father, so he gives him the details of the fire and how if Frank had just gone against his instincts, he would’ve gotten out. Frank doesn’t believe him, of course, but when the Mets’ World Series game happens just as John says it would, and then they get the call for the warehouse fire where Frank’s going to die, he remembers John’s words and follows his advice. As he does so, John’s own memories change. It’s fantastic.
Unfortunately, as Frank lives on, other things change and the guys find out that something different has occurred which causes John’s mother / Frank’s wife Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell, who looks smashing as a brunette, by the way) to become the victim of a serial murderer. So the second thing they do with their space-time crossover is to solve murders, as you do.
I love this movie so much. The burning desk, yes, but there’s also a broken radio in the past that gets magically busted (and later, magically fixed) in the future. Andre Braugher is there, too, as Satch — Frank’s old friend the police detective who becomes John’s mentor and associate — who makes the most perfect face about a baseball game ever made during an inopportune moment. And the climactic showdown with the murderer is balls-out amazing. If you saw the way I screamed and clapped and bounced in jittery happiness as all of it played out, you’d either think I was adorable or crazy. I lean adorable, but I don’t rule crazy out.
(I’m not crazy, this movie is great.)
Viable Option 