White Noise (2005)

An architect's desire to speak with his wife from beyond the grave becomes an obsession with supernatural repercussions.

Director:

Geoffrey Sax

Writer:

Niall Johnson

Stars:

Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Keaton	...	Jonathan Rivers
Chandra West	...	Anna Rivers
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Sarah Tate
Ian McNeice	...	Raymond Price
Sarah Strange	...	Jane
Nicholas Elia	...	Mike Rivers
Mike Dopud	...	Detective Smits
Marsha Regis	...	Police Woman
Brad Sihvon	...	Minister
Mitchell Kosterman	...	Work Man
L. Harvey Gold	...	Business Man
Amber Rothwell	...	Susie Tomlinson
Suzanne Ristic	...	Mary Freeman
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Mirabelle
Miranda Frigon	...	Car Crash Woman

Storyline

The car of successful author Anna Rivers is found disabled next to the river, the thought being that she accidentally fell into the river while trying to change a flat tire. Her dead body is found upstream several weeks later, consistent with the accidental death theory. Based on incidents around him, her grieving husband, architect Jonathan Rivers, decides several months later to visit with Raymond Price, who approached John prior to Anna's body being found with news that she was trying to contact him from beyond. At that time, John was skeptical of Raymond's claims of electronic voice phenomena (EVP): that he is contacted from the beyond through electronic means - radio, television - which he is able to record. Along with Sarah Tate, another of Raymond's "clients" whose fiancé passed away, John becomes obsessed with EVP as he gets more and more audio and video messages, however fuzzy, from Anna from beyond. That obsession takes a slight change in focus when John believes that Anna ...

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Plot Keywords:

supernatural horror | tape over mouth | river | obsession | architect | 

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Taglines:

The dead are trying to get a hold of you.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) is claimed by adherents of the paranormal, to be of "other-worldly origins", and was not invented by the filmmakers.

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Goofs

(at around 17 mins) When Anna is carrying the bags of groceries on the videotape, the box of cereal is open.

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Quotes

Mirabelle Keegan: Okay... Uhh... Uhmm... They are showing me something. It's uhmm... It's Uhh... Willow Avenue. They are showing me Willow Avenue. Yes?
Jonathan Rivers: No.
Mirabelle Keegan: Hmm... Okay. It's no problem. Sometimes it happens. Your wife, she past over recently. Her passing was difficult.
Jonathan Rivers: Yeah.
Mirabelle Keegan: She was Uhm. She's a writer, she was a writer. Yeah, her words are important. Oh... uh... God... I'm sorry. It's just the light... it's just, it's way to bright. It's like these tiny noisy little pinpoints it's hard to see anything at all. Uh......
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Static is heard in the background of the Gold Circle Films logo.

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Connections

Referenced in Scream Queens (2015)

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Soundtracks

Via Satellite
Written by Terry Devine-King
Courtesy of Cavendish Music/Non-Stop Music

User Reviews

I wouldn't exactly call it cinematic pleasure.....but I sorta liked it!

Michael Keaton gives a good performance as architect Jonathan Rivers. I found the movie good and thrilling at times but it somehow lost its phase in the end. But then again that's also the case with many films like Timecop and Hard Cash.

Storywise the movie was quite good. The idea of a device which can record our personalities after death is quite interesting. A quote by Thomas Edison made in 1928, which is used in the beginning of the movie, states: "Nobody knows whether our personalities pass on to another existence or sphere, but if we can evolve an instrument so delicate as to be manipulated by our personality as it survives in the next life such an instrument ought to record something." The concept of E.V.P.; (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) is elaborated on through the entire movie and it leaves us still thinking.

The directing and the way it's written holds up pretty good up until about 2/3 in the movie. The characters and Michael's acting as a father is quite good and not flawed in any way. The story flows in a good and convincing way. But it's in the end where it starts to get a little hectic. There's a twist to the story which sorta destroys the original set up and it becomes a tad....well dull and inconsistent to be perfectly blunt.

But all in all this is an enjoyable film. Just don't expect to be blown away.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Russia] UIP [France]

Country:

UK Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

White Noise

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,113,565, 9 January 2005

Gross USA:

$56,386,759

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$91,196,419

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Gold Circle Films, White Noise UK Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1