Movie Review: White Noise

Jacob Tucker, staff writer

 

Thomas Alva Edison once thought there could be a machine made that would enable human beings to communicate with the dead.

For the first time, Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) stands as the center of the motion picture thriller, “White Noise”.  This movie centers on Jonathan Rivers, played by Michael Keaton, who is a decent, rational man who does not subscribe to any theories of contact with the dead.  He is suddenly compelled to communicate when his wife is reported missing and later found dead.

Raymond Price, played by Ian McNiece, befriends Rivers and tells him that he has been communicating with Anna, Rivers’ wife, through EVP.  Rivers soon finds himself completely obsessed with “hearing” his wife, and soon he does the unthinkable.  He makes contact with Anna.

Her message for him is to prevent the brutal psychopath who killed her from killing again.  As Rivers becomes immersed in the study of EVP and communicating with Anna, he forgets Price’s warnings about evil spirits.  Rivers soon figures out that the dead are not to be taken lightly. 

EVP is the process in which the dead communicate with the living, through sound and image.  These communications are displayed through the static or white noise in modern electrical devices.  During the past two decades, this phenomenon has grown in interest among thousands of people.

Each person believes that every TV or radio is a portal through which one can communicate with the dead.  There has been a great deal of speculation about the method in which these “voices” are being recorded.  Many of them are captured by audio recorders and other everyday electronic devices.  That is the reason why EVP has so many critics.  This phenomenon is more than some cheap Hollywood joke.  It is a highly researched subject that gains volumes of support each year.

This movie was not your typical scary movie.  It’s more of a suspense/thriller type that makes the viewer think.  Despite the bad reviews that many critics are dealing it, I thought that it was pretty good.

There are some scenes that make you jump out of your seat and put in a small squeal. The story was great, and the actors chosen to portray the characters were great also.

The movie does have two major flaws that stuck out during the entire show.  Although it had a great story, I thought that it took too long to get into the plot of the movie.  It takes nearly half of the movie for Anna to give Rivers her message.  By this time the viewer has lost partial interest in the movie.  Secondly, the ending really did not do the movie much justice.  It could have been tons better, but you really can’t do anything about it.

Overall, I still believe that this is a decent movie and would be a great one to take a date to.  Despite all of my praise, I still give this movie a C+.  The reasons for this are the super-slow plot and the ending.  Those two factors killed the movie for me.