• Rating:
• Genre: Thriller
• Movie Type: Supernatural Thriller
• Themes: Psychic Abilities, Race Against Time, Death of a Spouse
• Director: Geoffrey Sax
• Main Cast: Michael Keaton, Chandra West, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice, Sarah Strange
• Release Year: 2005
• Country: CA/UK/US
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• MPAA Rating: PG13

Plot

Divorced architect Jonathan Rivers (Michael Keaton) seems to lead a pretty good life with partial custody of his young son and a happy second marriage to Anna (Chandra West), a best-selling author. Things take an ugly turn when Anna disappears during a thunderstorm, apparently the victim of a freak accident. Eventually, her body is found, and Jonathan sinks into despair. Then he meets Raymond (Ian McNeice), who claims that Anna has contacted him through EVP, or electronic voice phenomena. Raymond explains that the dead can communicate from beyond via static on common electronic equipment like radios and televisions. Jonathan is skeptical until he starts getting phone calls from Anna's inactive cell phone. He visits Raymond, whose home is filled with audio and video monitors and high-tech recording equipment. There he meets Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger), who has recently received a farewell message from her late fiancé. Jonathan eventually receives what appears to be a communication from Anna, but soon afterward, Raymond turns up dead. Obsessed with maintaining contact with his late wife, Jonathan visits a psychic (Connor Tracy) who warns him that he's going down a dangerous path, "meddling" in the affairs of the dead. Undaunted, Jonathan continues to study EVP and eventually finds that he's getting messages from people who haven't died...yet. White Noise was directed by Geoffrey Sax from an original script by Niall Johnson. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Review

Although pitched with a guffaw-inspiring "Based on actual phenomena" marketing campaign, White Noise starts out with a simple and intriguing premise, clearly influenced by contemporary trends in Asian horror. The notion of the dead communicating with us through the static on our electronic equipment has a certain creepily quotidian appeal, but after about a half-hour of slow build, White Noise quickly devolves into ludicrous plotting and cheap shock effects. Director Geoffrey Sax shows adeptness at making an audience jump with shock cuts and loud noises, but this is not a particularly impressive talent. Sustaining disbelief, or at least mere interest in the story would have been more satisfying. It's difficult to explain, without giving away too much of the story, the flaws in logic that seem to occur with increasing rapidity as the film progresses. Suffice to say that the film establishes rules that it then fails to follow, and that the second big scary plot twist that occurs at the climax of the film obviates the need for the existence of the first such twist. While successful Asian horror movies like Ringu, Ju-on, and the genuinely disturbing A Tale of Two Sisters have their own problems with narrative logic, they at least manage to sustain mood and gradually amp up the tension. The most disturbing moment in White Noise (or the scariest moment that doesn't involve a sudden loud noise) is the sequence, apparently rooted in harsh reality, wherein Michael Keaton vainly presses a button on his answering machine, over and over again, only to hear, "You have no messages." It's not really clear why Keaton's career has taken the dismal trajectory it has since he stopped playing Batman, but one would hope such a talented actor could find a better comeback vehicle than this. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Michael Keaton - Jonathan Rivers
• Chandra West - Anna Rivers
• Deborah Kara Unger - Sarah Tate
• Ian McNeice - Raymond Price
• Sarah Strange - Jane

Nicholas Elia - Mike Rivers; Mike Dopud - Detective Smits; Marsha Regis - Police Woman; Micki Maunsell - Edith Tomlinson; Suzanne Ristic - Mary Freeman; Peter Bryant - Man; Anthony Harrison - Doctor; April Telek - John's Secretary; Benita Ha - TV Reporter; Bruce Dawson - Mark; L. Harvey Gold - Business Man; Amber Rothwell - Susie Tomlinson; Mitchell Kosterman - Work Man; Aaron Douglas - Young Father; Brad Sihvon - Minister; Connor Tracy - Mirabelle Keegan; Miranda Frigon - Car Crash Woman; Anastasia Corbett - Young Girl; Ross Birchall - Young Boy; Bill Tarling - Presence #1; Chuck Walkinshaw - Presence #2; Colin Chapin - Presence #3; Michale Ascher - Woman

Credit

Michael S. Bolton - Production Designer; Geoffrey Sax - Director; Paul Brooks - Producer; Simon Brooks - Executive Producer; Stephen Hegyes - Executive Producer; Chris Seager - Cinematographer; Nick Arthurs - Editor; Claude Foisy - Composer (Music Score); Niall Johnson - Screenwriter; Shawn Williamson - Producer; Jonathan Shore - Associate Producer; William Skinner - Sound/Sound Designer; Karen Matthews - Costume Designer; Richard Coleman - First Assistant Director; Scott Niemeyer - Executive Producer; Maureen Webb - Casting; Penny A. Chalmers - Set Decorator; Greg Venturi - Art Director; Norm Witt - Executive Producer

Similar Movies

The Ring; The Mothman Prophecies; Unbreakable; The House on Haunted Hill; Dark Water; Dead Waves

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