Frequency (PG-13, 2000)

John (James Caviezel), a policeman, is deeply sad in a way that isolates him from everyone around him, because of the loss of his firefighter father, Frank, 30 years ago. When John is able to talk to Frank (Dennis Quaid) over his old ham radio, John saves his father's life by warning him to turn the other way when trying trying to escape a fire. But in changing history, John and Frank have set into motion a chain of events that will result in an even deeper tragedy. The policeman and the fireman, 30 years apart, try to track a killer before he strikes very close to home. As every event in 1969 has ripple effects into 1999, only John can remember all of the parallel strands. Old newspaper clippings change before his eyes, and events from 30 years before change the way he sees the world in the present. Like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, John gets to see how one person can make all the difference.

In FREQUENCY, Caviezel perfectly conveys John's sense of loss and his integrity, subtly showing us how each set of experiences affected his behavior and his life in a different way. His talks with Frank are very moving. Quaid has his best role since The Big Easy and gets a chance to let viewers see his enormous charm in the character's devotion to his family and his job. As Frank's wife/John's mom, Elizabeth Mitchell is lovely, warm, and, in a scene with André Braugher as Frank's policeman friend, as strong and determined as her husband and son.

That said, things do get pretty confusing. This is one of those movies where the audience walks out saying things like, "Wait a minute! You mean when the guy came down the stairs it meant ... ?" "How did that other guy get there?" But it's good enough that, like The Sixth Sense, fans may want to watch again just to straighten it all out. Warning, though: It has some of the worst old-age make-up ever.