Themes: Widows and Widowers, Psychic Abilities, Race Against Time
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
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
Greg Venturi - Art Director, Jonathan Shore - Associate Producer, Maureen Webb - Casting, Karen Matthews - Costume Designer, Richard Coleman - First Assistant Director, Geoffrey Sax - Director, Nick Arthurs - Editor, Simon Brooks - Executive Producer, Stephen Hegyes - Executive Producer, Norm Waitt - Executive Producer, Scott Niemeyer - Executive Producer, Claude Foisy - Composer (Music Score), Michael S. Bolton - Production Designer, Chris Seager - Cinematographer, Paul Brooks - Producer, Shawn Williamson - Producer, William Skinner - Sound/Sound Designer, Niall Johnson - Screenwriter, Penny A. Chalmers - Set Decorator
Jonathan Rivers (Michael Keaton) is a successful architect, and lives a peaceful life with his wife Anna (Chandra West), until her unexpected and violent death.
Eventually, he is contacted by Raymond Price (Ian McNeice), who claims that his son has also died, and that he has recorded messages from Anna through EVP. While Jonathan is initially dismissive, he begins to believe that the recorded voice is indeed that of his wife.
Jonathan becomes obsessed with trying to contact her himself, despite warnings from a psychic who tries to tell him how the recording can attract other, unwanted entities. A woman named Sarah Tate befriends Jonathan because she lost someone too.
Raymond is found dead. Jonathan discovers three shadowy figures, and finds that in some of the messages he is coming across are from people who have not yet died, but may soon do so, one of whom is a missing girl named Mary Freeman. Sarah later either tries to commit suicide or is thrown off the edge of a building by the three spirit figures.
Jonathan locates the site of his wife's death by following signs on recordings, and finds a construction worker from his company, holding Mary captive. The three ghosts torture Jonathan and cause him to fall to his death, but a SWAT team along with Detective Smits (Mike Dopud) arrives and is able to save Mary.
At his funeral Sarah sits in her wheelchair, still disturbed by his death, while the three ghosts' shadows flash in the grass behind. Then she feels his spirit.
In the ending of the movie, Jonathan's voice can be heard in a radio interference saying "I'M SORRY" to his son, the child recognizes the voice and smiles.
Reception
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, garnering an 8% rating at Rotten Tomatoes with only 10% of the "Cream of the Crop" critics giving the film positive reviews. It was met with mostly negative reviews from users of the site as well, with 30% overall rating.
