The film begins in 1969 - Dennis Quaid is Frank Sullivan, a fireman with guts, married to Julia a woman he loves, a good father to their son John. The Aurora Borealis hangs over Queens, the borough of New York where they live. And that particular natural phenomenon happens again many years later, in 1999 where son John (Jim Caviezel) now thirty six is a cop who`s just been left by his wife for reasons not made very clear. In his misery he starts playing with a short wave radio that belonged to his father and inexplicably makes contact with Frank who`s still back in 1969. Frank had actually died in a fire just about this time and through John`s later knowledge he`s able to avert his father`s death.But that change in fate has other consequences... a serial killer who is known in 1999 to have killed three people is now listed as having killed ten, among them John`s mother Julia, between the time zones the hunt is on for the killer before he gets to Julia..Frequency is over two hours and it`s a shame that it`s so slow setting up its rather complicated premise because once into thriller mode it`s a very interesting and cleverly constructed film. Although it`s so complicated at times that, like The Sixth Sense, you feel you have to see it again to make sure everything fits. Both Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel - who was so rivetting in The Thin Red Line - bring something to this father-son relationship over time that is ultimately quite affecting. Director Gregory Hoblit manages to build suspense despite some lapses into obviousness and despite the film`s inherent improbability.David`s Comment:A far-fetched idea for a thriller, enhanced by good performances from Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel, but seriously undermined by some particularly ugly photography which often serves to further confuse an already rather confusing plot.
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