Frequency (2000 film)

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For the 2013 science fiction romance film, see Frequencies (film).
Frequency
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGregory Hoblit
Written byToby Emmerich
Produced byGregory Hoblit
Hawk Koch
Toby Emmerich
Bill Carraro
Starring
CinematographyAlar Kivilo
Edited byDavid Rosenbloom
Music byMichael Kamen
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • April 28, 2000 (2000-04-28)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$31 million[1]
Box office$68.1 million[1]

Frequency is a 2000 American science fiction thriller drama film. It was co-produced and directed by Gregory Hoblit and written and co-produced by Toby Emmerich. The film stars Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel as father and son, Frank and John Sullivan respectively. It was filmed in Toronto and New York City. The film gained mostly favorable reviews following its release via DVD format on October 31, 2000.[2]

Plot

In October 1969, firefighter Frank Sullivan (Quaid) dies in a warehouse fire, leaving behind his wife Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell) and six-year-old son John. Thirty years later, in 1999, John (Caviezel), now an NYPD detective, is dumped by his girlfriend Samantha for being emotionally shut off. John's childhood friend Gordo (Noah Emmerich) finds a Heathkit single-sideband ham radio that once belonged to Frank, but fails to get it working. The night before the anniversary of his father's death, John is surprised to find the radio broadcasting during an occurrence of the aurora borealis and has a brief conversation with another man concerning the 1969 World Series, which John is able to recount in specific detail. Eventually, he realizes that the other man is Frank and tries to warn him of his impending death. The next day, while attempting to rescue a young girl, Frank heeds his son's warning and manages to escape the warehouse. That evening, the two reconnect and learn a great deal about each other's lives.

Subsequently, John begins to notice major changes in the present: His mother Julia no longer lives at her current address, Samantha doesn't recognize him, and he learns that Frank died in 1989 from lung cancer. His boss, Sgt. Satch DeLeon (Andre Braugher), assigns him to investigate the "Nightingale", a serial killer who murdered three nurses in the 1960s. However, John discovers that the Nightingale is now connected to ten murders, including that of his mother two weeks after Frank's now-avoided death. Feeling guilty that their actions somehow led to the Nightingale committing more murders, John persuades his father to help him prevent these crimes from occurring. Frank manages to save the first victim. But when he tries to rescue the second, the Nightingale subdues him, steals his driver's license, and plants it on the victim to frame Frank for the murder.

When Frank shares his experience with his son, John realizes Frank's wallet has the Nightingale's fingerprints. John instructs his father to wrap his wallet in plastic and hide it somewhere in the house where John can find it 30 years later. Using the preserved fingerprints from the wallet, John identifies the Nightingale as Jack Shepard (Shawn Doyle), a former detective. In the original timeline, Shepard died from a medical error the same night Frank died. But since, in the new timeline, Julia didn't leave the hospital early after learning of Frank's death, she was at the hospital and prevented the error that would have killed Shepard. Meanwhile, Frank is approached by then-Detective Satch DeLeon who tries to arrest him on suspicion of murder. (Later, in an attempt to prove his innocence, Frank is able to recount various aspects of the 1969 World Series to Satch, including the infamous Game 5 "shoe polish incident".) In the resulting struggle, the radio is knocked over and sustains damage, shutting it off. While awaiting questioning, Frank activates the precinct's fire sprinkler system, escapes, and breaks into Shepard's apartment, where he finds jewelry taken from the victims. Shepard catches Frank in the act and pursues him, ending with a fight underwater where Frank appears to have killed Shepard.

Frank fixes the radio, but while talking both he and John are attacked by the 1969 and 1999 versions of Shepard. Using a shotgun, Frank manages to blow off Shepard's right hand in 1969, causing Shepherd's hand to disappear in 1999 just as he's about to kill John. The timeline rapidly fixes itself in 1999 and an elderly Frank, having quit smoking to avoid his death in 1989, kills Shepard and embraces his son. The film concludes with a baseball game including John, Samantha (now his wife), John's young son, Frank, Julia, Satch and Gordo, who's now wealthy on account of having invested in Yahoo! on John's advice.

Cast

Production

The film was greenlighted for production on January 21, 1999.[3] Sylvester Stallone was rumored to be taking the role of Frank Sullivan in 1997, but fell out of the deal after a dispute over his fee.[4][5] Renny Harlin was rumored to be director on the film.[4][5] Gregory Hoblit first read the script in November 1997, eighteen months after his father's death. In a 2000 interview shortly after the American release of Frequency, he described the film as "high risk" since the project had already been passed among several directors, including one of note who had twice the budget Hoblit was given.[6] In the same interview, he described the difficulty he had finding the two leads. Hoblit realized he needed an "experienced actor" to portray Frank Sullivan, and thus settled on Dennis Quaid.[6]

Release

Two weeks before its release, a sneak preview of the film was shown with Final Destination.

Home release

Frequency was released on VHS on April 3, 2001 and on DVD on October 31, 2000. It was later released on Blu-ray on July 10, 2012.[7][8][9]

Reception

Box office

Frequency was released at 2,621 theaters, making $9 million during its opening weekend. Eventually, the film grossed $45 million domestically and $23.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $68.1 million.[1]

Critical response

Frequency received generally positive reviews. Based on 123 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 70% Approval Rating (Fresh) with the consensus as "a tight blend of surprises and suspense [that] keeps audiences spellbound".[10] Roger Ebert called the film's plot "contrived", yet gave the film a favorable review. He also pointed out similarities with the films The Sixth Sense and Ghost.[11] David Armstrong, of the San Francisco Chronicle, praised the moments in the film when John and Frank Sullivan talked to each other over the ham radio but criticized the "unintentionally funny climax". He also praised actor Shawn Doyle's performance as the Nightingale killer, calling him "convincingly creepy".[12] Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine said despite Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel's physical separation in the film, they formed a "palpable bond that [gave] the picture its tensile strength".[13] McCarthy noted that screenwriter Toby Emmerich's "bold leap into reconfiguring the past" created "agreeable surprises" and an "infinite number of possibilities" to the plot's direction. He added, however, that the serial killer subplot was "desperately familiar".[13] James Berardinelli gave the film two stars out of four, criticizing the "coincidence-laden climax" but wrote that "poor writing [did] not demand subpar acting", praising Frequency's "few nice performances".[14]

The American Radio Relay League assisted in some of the technical aspects in the film, though some ham radio enthusiasts criticized technical errors that made it into the film.

Frequency made $68,106,245 worldwide and was released in 2,631 theaters in the United States.[15] Frequency was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but ultimately lost out to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film's ending song, "When You Come Back to Me Again", was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.[16] Written by Jenny Yates and Garth Brooks (performed only by Brooks), the song failed to win, losing out to "Things Have Changed" from Wonder Boys.

Television adaptation

Main article: Frequency (TV series)

In November 2014, it was reported that Supernatural showrunner Jeremy Carver was in talks to produce a new television series adaptation/reboot based on the film for television network NBC. The film's writer Toby Emmerich is attached to serve as a producer for the series.[17] NBC passed on it, and a pilot was ordered at The CW in January 2016.[18] The series was canceled after one season on May 8, 2017.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Frequency (2000) - Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com.
  2. ^ "Frequency — DVD Review". Total Film. March 1, 2001. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  3. ^ "Hoblit time-trips; old script scores for Iliff". Variety. January 21, 1999. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Cox, Dan (June 6, 1997). "Sly eyeing New Line's 'Frequency'". Variety. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Busch, Anita M. (June 27, 1997). "INSIDE MOVES". Variety. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Sragow, Michael (May 25, 2000). "What's the "Frequency," Gregory?". Salon.com. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  7. ^ "Frequency [VHS] (2000)". Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  8. ^ "Frequency (2000)". Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  9. ^ "Frequency [Blu-ray] (2012)". Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  10. ^ "Frequency (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  11. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 28, 2000). "Frequency (2000)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  12. ^ Armstrong, David (April 28, 2000). "Convoluted 'Frequency' in need of fine-tuning". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  13. ^ a b McCarthy, Todd (April 17, 2000). "Frequency". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  14. ^ Berardinelli, James (2000). "Frequency". ReelViews. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  15. ^ "Frequency (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  16. ^ "The Golden Globe nominations". BBC News Online. December 21, 2000. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
  17. ^ Lesley Goldberg. "NBC Plots 'Frequency' Reboot With 'Supernatural' Boss (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ^ http://deadline.com/2016-the-cw-pilots/
  19. ^ Strauss, Bettina (May 8, 2017). "'Frequency,' 'No Tomorrow' Canceled at The CW". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 8, 2017.

External links

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