White Noise (*)

White Noise was really not a good movie. I was just about to give it 2 stars but decided that there really isn't any redeeming value, so it's a one star movie. The movie wasn't scary or interesting, the acting was sub-par, it was boring and there was not much explanation at the ending to close up many loose ends.

The movie's plot is about a man named Jonathan Rivers, played by Michael Keaton. Jonathan loses his wife, Anna in a supposed tragic accident. Confused by the death of Anna, Jonathan can't seem to let go. During his grief he meets a man who claims to be able to communicate to the dead through noise on audio tape and sometimes even video. Jonathan becomes obsessed with this activity in the hopes of being able to contact his wife. He becomes somewhat of a hero as the dead seem to be able to see the future and can tell him how to prevent accidents. But some of the dead aren't too happy that he is dabbling in their world and they come to attack him.

The intention of the movie was for it to be a scary movie and it was very obvious they tried to rip off several elements from the largely popular movie "The Ring". It just wasn't scary and it was almost laughable because it was so ridiculous. I admit that I didn't really want to see this movie in the first place, but we rented it and decided to give it a shot. I at least thought it might be kind of interesting and string me along, it just wasn't. The concept was really stupid, it's all based on EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), which I find ridiculous. The crazy thing is there are people out there who study EVP, in real life. It just didn't work, it wasn't effective. What's so scary about hearing voices on a tape recorder, what is a voice going to do to you? Nothing, that's the problem a voice can't kill or hurt you.

With Michael Keaton starring in the movie you would expect the acting to be pretty good. He is really the only person anyone will recognize in the movie. He didn't do anything special, he wasn't necessarily believable, but he did ok. I just don't think the movie was well written, so it's not really his fault.

This is one of those movies where you invest your time into it hoping that the ending will pay off and tie up all the loose ends. Well it doesn't, really it raises more questions than answers. There are these mysterious shadows of three men that happen to show up and there is no explanation on who they are or what they are doing. It just doesn't make any sense at the end.

The Bottom Line... I don't recommend that anyone see White Noise, maybe if it's on TV someday on a Saturday afternoon. I just didn't find any real reason why this movie should have even been made. The plot was lame, it wasn't scary (maybe one or two scenes that will make you jump), the acting was on par with the movie. I really think White Noise is trying to ride on the heels of the newly successful scary movie genre. But it's not as good as it's predecessors, like The Ring that I didn't even really like in the first place. It's rated PG-13, for some violence, disturbing images and some language. But even if your kid is 13, he is better off not seeing this movie anyway.