Frequency [Blu-ray]

Gregory Hoblit

Overview

Known more for his dark, psychological crime thrillers Primal Fear (1996) and Fallen (1998), director Gregory Hoblit surprisingly created this Frank Capra-meets-Rod Serling-style fantasy that mixes several genres of storytelling into a likable stew. James Caviezel stars as John Sullivan, a New York police detective who has never recovered from the death of his father Frank (Dennis Quaid), a firefighter who died heroically when John was a boy. Experimenting with his dad's beloved ham radio one summer night, extreme sunspot activity allows John to contact Frank 30 years in the past. Since he's able to warn Frank away from danger, his father's death never occurs. Then the unthinkable happens: John's altered future is one in which his mother Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell) has been murdered by a serial killer. Now John in the present and Frank in the past must try to solve the riddle of the killer's identity and change the time line again. Frequency was written by Toby Emmerich, the brother of actor Noah Emmerich, who appears in a supporting role created specifically for him.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/10/2012
UPC:	0794043156175
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	13,813

Special Features

Commentary by director Gregory Hoblit; Commentary by writer/producer Toby Emmerich and actor Noah Emmerich; The science & technology behind frequency; 4 animated solar galleries; Music-only track with commentary by composer Michael Kamen; Deleted scenes; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Shawn Doyle	Jack Shepard
Andre Braugher	Satch DeLeon
Elizabeth Mitchell	Julia Sullivan
Noah Emmerich	Gordo Hersch
Melissa Errico	Samantha Thomas
Daniel Henson	Johnny Sullivan
Jordan Bridges	Graham Gibson
Stephen Joffe	Gordo Hersch
Jack McCormack	Commander O'Connell
Peter MacNeill	Butch Foster
Michael Cera	Gordie Jr.
Marin Hinkle	Sissy Clark
Richard Sali	Chuck Hayes
Nesbitt Blaisdell	Fred Shepard
Joan Heney	Laura Shepard
Jessica Meyer	Teenage Runaway
Kirsten Bishopric	Carrie Reynolds
Rocco Sisto	Daryl Adams
Rosemary DeAngelis	Mrs. Finelli
Dick Cavett	Himself
Brian Greene	Himself
Melissa Fitzgerald	Linda Hersch
Terry Serpico	Con Ed Worker No. 1
Brian Smyj	Con Ed Worker No. 2
Nicole Brier	Stoned Teenage Girl
Brantley Bush	Young Intern
David Huband	Lounge Bartender
Timothy Brown	Roof Man Billy
Chuck Margiotta	Pedestal Man Gino
Karen Glave	Lanni DeLeon
Frank McAnulty	Desk Sergeant
Derek Aasland	Stoned Man No. 1
Jim McAleese	Cozy Bartender
Catherine Burdon	Young Woman No. 1
Jennifer Baxter	Young Woman No. 2
Desmond Campbell	Forensic Tech Hector
Danny Johnson	Uniformed Cop No. 1
Colm Magner	Uniformed Cop No. 2
Brigitte Kingsley	Bar Waitress
Tucker Robin	Frank Jr.
Kirsten Bishop	Carrie Reynolds
John Di Benedetto	Con Ed Supervisor
Jim Caviezel	Actor
Michael Kamen	Composer

Technical Credits

Noah Emmerich

Gregory Hoblit	Director,Producer
Andre Braugher	Director
Dennis Quaid	Director
James Caviezel	Director
Noah Emmerich	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Jordan Bridges	Director
Bill Carraro	Producer
Hawk Koch	Producer
Richard Saperstein	Producer,Executive Producer
Robert Shaye	Producer
Cathy Sandrich	Casting
James Sabat	Sound/Sound Designer
Steve Boeddeker	Sound/Sound Designer
Douglas Ganton	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

With a nod to movies past, Frequency synthesizes style and fright to create a thriller for the ages. A freak occurrence in the aurora borealis rewrites the future for John Sullivan (James Caviezel), a policeman still recovering from the death of his father (Dennis Quaid), a heroic fireman, 30 year earlier. Using his father's old ham radio one night, John connects with a strangely familiar man -- eerily, but unmistakably, his father. This fantastic connection inadvertently alters past, present, and future for both of them, as father and son must reunite to stop a serial killer who has targeted John's mother. Quaid brings his usual charm to the fatherly role, and Caviezel, best remembered for his breakout role in The Thin Red Line, makes a great, moody foil. Screenwriter Toby Emmerich's script is tight and multilayered, allowing director Gregory Hoblit to successfully revisit the psychological terror he mastered in Fallen and Primal Fear. With great ease, Hoblit juggles an amalgam of genres -- thriller, science fiction, and family drama -- recalling the uncanny fantasy of The Twilight Zone and Field of Dreams as much as the suspense of Backdraft and The Fugitive.

Barnes & Noble - Patricia Kim O'Cone

Frequency is sometimes referred to as a "tearjerker for men," since it deals movingly with the bonds between a father (Dennis Quaid) and son (Jim Caviezel). But a more complimentary gauge of its power is to compare it to Back to the Future. That's because both films require a major suspension of disbelief for the viewer to swallow the otherwise preposterous time travel conundrums at their core. Once the viewer accepts the framework -- that a rift in the space-time continuum could allow Caviezel to talk to his dead father, 30 years in the past, over ham radio waves -- the enjoyment that follows is pure and unfettered, because the movie stays true to the rules it establishes. Both leads turn in earnest, energetic performances, and the script doesn't fail them. It's the small elements of a cleverly devised time-twister story that really resonate. For example, in one memorable scene, Quaid hides a key piece of evidence that may help his son solve a murder in the floorboards of the house where Caviezel still lives. "Moments later," Caviezel digs it up, covered with dust and cobwebs. Sports fans and New Yorkers will appreciate the nostalgic 1969 the film conjures, when everyone in the borough of Queens was electrified by the "Amazin'" Mets and their appearance in the World Series. It's a tall task to ask any film to duplicate the sublime experience of Back to the Future, but the fact that this is even in the ballpark, so to speak, is a real testament.

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