Reviewed by: Suad Bejtovic, Bosnian Movie Critic

Directed by: Gregory Hoblit

Starring: Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel

.Tesko je ovih dana naci dobar film o putovanju kroz vrijeme. Dani slave serije "Back To The Future" su davno prosli, i niko se vise i ne sjeca tog pravo starog filma zasnovanog na romanu H. G. Wellesa. Tako se Frequency provukaoispod naseg sci-fi radara gotovo neprimijecen, a za one malobrojne koji su se potrudili da ga pogledaju, bilo je to osvjezavajuce iskustvo.

Sta se moze uraditi u filmu o putovanju kroz vrijeme sto nije bilo uradjeno ranije? Imate zacrtan skup pravila i posljedice njihovog krsenja. Jedna bezazlena stvar koja se desila prije 30 godina mogla bi danas da promijeni nekoliko zivota. Ta prosta stvar je pozar koji je izbio u jednom skladistu u New Jerseyu I odluka koju je u njemu donio vatrogasac Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid). Noc ranije, dok se igrao sa svojom amaterskom radio stanicom, zbog nekog cudnovatog fenomena (film ga objasnjava polarnom svjetloscu), Frank je govorio sa svojim odraslim sinom Johnom iz buducnosti, koji ga je upozorio da ce u tom pozaru poginuti. Ovaj put, Frank donosi ispravnu odluku i prezivi, ali prezivi i tajanstveni serijski ubica, zahvaljujuci nizu naizgled beznacajnih okolnosti, koji pocinje tom malom promjenom u toku historije. Johnny nastavlja da izvjestava Franka o problemima koji postaju evidentni u buducnosti, i igra uzroka i posljedica se nastavlja kroz dvije generacije.

Iako je Frequency labavo pripada zanru naucno fantasticnog filma, on ne zaboravlja svoje likove. Tkivo od kojeg je satkana cvrsto vezana porodica Sullivan je vrlo opipljivo. Atmosfera dobrocudnog nadmetanja policajaca i vatrogasaca u predgradju New Jerseya je dobro naslikana slika, a tu je i gotovo nezdrava opsesija bejzbolskim klubom "Strasnih", New York Mets. Naravno, u filmu je dosta melodramatskih pojednostavljenja, jer ne gubi vrijeme objasnjavajuci kako sve funkcionise. Film je takodje efektan i kao triler, zbog napetosti koja raste iz neprijatne sudbine koja se nadvija nad Frankom i njegovom suprugom Juliom. Od glavnih glumaca nisu trazene izvedbe sekspirijanske snage, ali su dobro obavili svoj posao, narocito mladi Caviezel, koji je bio zapazen i u Thin Red Line.

Ono sto sam oduvijek volio u filmovima "Back To The Future" je kako su vjerodostojni bili ideji da bilo koji dogadjaj moze uticati na rezultat brojnih buducih dogadjaja. Frequency cak ide i do krajnosti u konacnom obracunu, gdje su promjene evidentne svake sekunde. Koristena su i ocigledna rjesenja, kao dokazivanje nekih nevjerovatnih stvari Nevjernim Tomama, cesto uzimajuci bejzbol kao najtacniji metod komunikacije. Koliko puta mozete predvidjeti da ce igrac biti pogodjen loptom u tacno odredjenom periodu igre? Sve u svemu, Frequency je skroman film, ali bez obzira, vrlo dobar, i nije samo za obozavatelje bejzbola i filmova "Back To The Future".
     A good time-travel movie is hard to find lately. The glory days of Back To The Future franchise are long gone, and nobody even remembers that really old movie based on H. G. Welles' classic. So, Frequency snuck below sci-fi radar nearly undetected, and for those few that bothered to watch, it was a refreshing experience.

What can you do in a time-travel movie that hasn't been done before? You have your set of rules, and what happens if you break them. One simple thing 30 years ago can change a few lives today. That simple thing is a fire that broke out in a warehouse in New Jersey, and the fatal decision firefighter Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) had to make in it. The night before, he was fooling around on his ham radio, and through some strange phenomena, (the movie accounts it to the aurea borealis), he talked to his grown up son John from the future, who warned him that he dies in that fire. This time around, Frank makes the right decision and lives, but so does the mysterious serial killer, due to a string of seemingly unimportant circumstances, triggered by that slight change in the flow of history. Johnny then continues to report some disturbances in the future that Frank has to resolve in the past and the game of cause and consequence continues on throughout two generations.

Although Frequency loosely qualifies as a sci-fi movie, it doesn't forget that it is about characters. The fabric of the family that is so closely knit together is very tangible. The atmosphere of good-natured rivalry between cops and firefighters in the Jersey neighborhood is a picture well painted, and there is also almost unhealthy obsession with the baseball club of the "Amazings," the New York Mets. Of course, there are some melodramatic simplifications, and the movie doesn't waste time on explaining how its various vehicles work. The movie also works as a thriller, given the tension that arises from the gloomy fate that hovers over Frank and his wife, Julia. Main actors are not asked to perform the roles of Shakespearean magnitude, but they get the job done, especially young Caviezel, who was also noticeable in The Thin Red Line.

What I always liked about the Back to the Future series is how faithful it was to the idea that any event can affect the outcome of many future events. Frequency even takes that idea to the extreme in the final showdown, where things change by the second. It uses the obvious solutions, like proving a few unbelievable things to a few non-believers, often using baseball as the ultimately accurate language of communications. I mean, how many times can you predict a hitter being hit by a wild pitch to the precise inning? Overall, Frequency is a modest movie, but a good one, nevertheless, and it's not for baseball fans and grown up Back to the Future fans only.

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