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Frequency
New Line Cinema


8.1

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 6 votes
Read user comments
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense violence and disturbing images

Starring Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher, Shawn Doyle, Noah Emmerich, and Melissa Errico

In this mind-bending thriller, director Gregory Hoblit presents a fresh and original take on time travel with the gripping human story of a father (Quaid) and a son (Caviezel) who reach out to one another across parallel universes to stop a terrible crime. (New Line Cinema)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Toby Emnmerich
DIRECTED BY:	Gregory Hoblit
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 31, 2000 Video: October 31, 2000 Theatrical: April 28, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	118 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Smart, suspenseful, satisfyingly unpredictable.

100

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

One of the most skillful, mesmerizing, tense and satisfying time-warp thrillers ever made.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Likely to appeal to the fans of "The Sixth Sense," "Ghost" and other movies where the characters find a loophole in reality. What it also has in common with those two movies is warmth and emotion.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

A suspenseful, fascinating movie that milks the premise for all it's worth.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The star, though, is the script, a rare enough occurrence in Hollywood that it merits special note.

Newsweek Jeff Giles

A touching thriller, a movie that's particularly hard to resist if there are things you never said to your own dad because you didn't have the chance, the inclination or the right ham radio.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Quaid's buoyant earnestness complements the stunning, low-key performance by Caviezel, whose close-ups give new meaning to the idea that still waters run deep.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Braugher does much to hold this show together, because without him, the reality gets muddled. He's a terrific balancing agent for both Caviezel and Quaid; kudos to casting.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

It's like a chick flick for men--and the women who love them, sniff-sniff.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A fairly wonderful movie about fathers and sons and the mystery of time.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Corny and far-fetched it may be, but Frequency works - except for some stretches when it doesn't.

TNT RoughCut Don Kaye

Succeeds at getting the viewer to buy into its premise, thanks to solid, often moving characterizations and the gripping way the plot is spun.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Had me watching through misty eyes, at least for the first half.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Isn't quite smart enough to untangle one large, insoluble problem at the end.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

May be the first time travel fantasy to move grown fellows with 401(k) accounts to tears.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Enough originality and emotional weight to keep you engrossed even when it lapses into some pretty standard moves at the end.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

An enjoyably complex sci-fi suspense thriller.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Emmerich's screenplay gains emotional punch from its sincere concern for family values, but science-fiction fans may be disappointed by the limited exploration of its fascinating time-travel premise.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A very complicated movie. It is also pretty wonderful.

Film.com Gemma Files

Confirming the moral of a thousand "Twilight Zone" episodes: Don't play with time.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The time shifting raises questions the movie never answers, but it's hard not to enjoy the ride.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

What makes Frequency work despite is shamelessness is the surreal aura that imbues almost every scene with a sense of heightened feeling.

Film.com Moira Macdonald

Worth seeing.

USA Today Andy Seiler

This surprisingly sentimental science-fiction thriller boasts enough fresh twists to satisfy time-travel junkies.

San Francisco Examiner David Armstrong

There's a novel, engaging story trying to transmit through the storm of special effects and convoluted plot twists that mar the movie.

Variety Todd McCarthy

An oddly schizophrenic fantasy thriller that ultimately succumbs to a fatal case of sentimentality.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

What do you get when you cross a serial-killer movie with a sappy father/son drama and give it a time-travel twist?

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

Due largely to the tremendous innate warmth and conviction of leads Quaid and Caviezel ("The Thin Red Line"), you may find yourself cutting a surprising amount of slack for this patently ridiculous tale.

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

If the trailer for this one left you feeling you'd pretty much got it, plot point by plot point, so really why bother.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Disappointingly dumb.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

After keeping its balance over much treacherous terrain, greedily overreaches and stumbles badly at the close.

Mr. Showbiz F. X. Feeney

As an audience member, you end up feeling like a sucker for even having tolerated that sickly sweet notion about a father, a son, and their silly radio.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sally H gave it an8:
Good movie, the end pulls it all together very nicely with an unpredictable twist.

David S. gave it a 9:
Great movie, even if the radio idea is far fetched.

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Frequency New Line Cinema

Frequency
New Line Cinema