Frequency - Great Father and Son Time-Travel Movie

Similar to my blog on Field of Dreams last week, I will stick with the theme of father and son, along with another baseball connection. This is a good lead-in to the upcoming Father’s Day.

This 2000 movie starred:

·        Dennis Quaid as Francis Patrick Sullivan

·        Jim Caviezel as John Francis "Johnny" Sullivan

·        Andre Braugher as Satch DeLeon

·        Elizabeth Mitchell as Julia "Jules" Sullivan

·        Shawn Doyle as Jack Shepard

As a devout Catholic, Jim Caviezel (Pay it Forward, Angel Eyes, The Passion of the Christ, Déjà Vu, When the Game Stands Tall) will only take on quality and/or moral rolls. Mel Gibson warned Caviezel that playing Jesus in his movie, The Passion of the Christ would ruin his career. It didn't, but it took a few years. I just watched last year's, When the Game Stands Tall, a true story of football players in a Catholic high school with an amazing 151 game winning streak. It was a fantastic and inspiring film. Frequency is another fine example of that and a great time travel film.

The unique aspect of this film is the fact that nobody actually travels in time. The time traveling is done by voices, via short hand (ham) radio waves. Sun spots, solar flares and the aurora borealis which occurring in both 1969 as well as 1999, cause a connection on the same ham radio set in the same house, room, and desk… thirty years apart. What struck me about watching this film is the way it was done. It seemed so plausible, like it could really happen.

Dennis Quaid as Frank Sullivan

Jim Caviezel os John Sullivan

Jim Caviezel plays New York cop, John Sullivan, who in 1999, finds himself talking to his dad, Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid), back in 1969. For Frank the conversation happens during the New York (Amazing) Mets World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Naturally John knows the outcome and tells his dad all about it. 

John suddenly realizes that the very next day, his dad, a firefighter for the FDNY, will be killed in a warehouse fire. John tells Frank to go the other way. If he had exited the building in the opposite direction, he would have made it. John remembers the conversation, turns and heads the other way, resulting in his being saved.

But changing the course of time always has consequences. Having his dad alive changes the fate of his wife (John’s mom, Julia Sullivan), who is now killed by a serial killer who she saves as his nurse. In the original timeline, he died because Julia was picked up early by someone other than her husband. Julia becomes another victim of the Nightingale Murders.

Julia is played by Elizabeth Mitchell and is very likable in this role as both the young and old mom to John. She is best known for her roles in Lost and Once Upon a Time.

John has the distinction of having memories from all the timelines, so he remembers his dad and mom, both dying and being there. Through the ham radio, John talks his dad through ways to stop the killer, which is not always successful.

The Nightingale Killer is played by Shawn Doyle and he plays the role well for both timelines. 

Another cop and family friend, Satch, is led to believe the unlikely story of Frank talking to his grown up son from the future, when Frank predicts the outcome of game two in the World Series. Satch is played by Andre Braugher.

There was talk about a TV series based on the show, but I’m not sure this will ever happen.

I love this movie. There is a great father/son bond between the characters, along with real chemistry between the married couple, Frank and Jules Sullivan. It has a sappy, yet satisfying ending. 

Experience the details of a Mets/Cubs game as we time travel to that great ’69 season in Tomorrow's Borrowed Trouble section in The Time Pilgrims Trilogy


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