Synopsis
Dramatizes a contemporary American family's attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life while grappling with the universal mysteries of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.
Directed & written by Noah Baumbach
Based on a book by Don DeLillo
Starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Raffey Cassidy, Jodie Turner-Smith and Don Cheadle
Coming soon to Netflix
Review
Based on the book of the same name by Don DeLillo, White Noise condenses down the life of an American family as they deal with all the highs and lows that could possibly occur.
Watching it was a rollercoaster, but like Space Mountain, you can’t see where it’s going and every turn is jarring. Being able to sit and think about it after has probably improved it a little, as my brain can catch up with what it saw, but it really wasn’t easy to process during.
Adam Driver was the draw on this for me, I can’t really say I had a strong opinion on any other factor going in. But Jack got the raw end of the deal when it came to dialogue. The disjointed nature of everything gave him a distinctly old and young feeling all at once, which is apt for an amalgam of American fathers, but on the screen, it just didn’t gel.
That same issue could be felt across all of the performances, though Denise and Heinrich did make it out with a couple of strong moments. Greta Gerwig as Babbette may have had the most success with the script. Her part still didn’t feel like much to work with, but she managed to do a very good job of it, I haven’t seen someone cry that convincingly on screen in quite a while.
There were moments that would have been at home in an 80s comedy, something of a Naked Gun or National Lampoon vibe, and the sci-fi-esque portion certainly had me… though… how much was spent on that cloud?! Felt a little wasted in this film.
If I hadn’t read the synopsis before seeing White Noise, I don’t think I’d have been able to successfully form an opinion about it, mainly because I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint what I’d just watched (I’m still a little hazy on that, to be honest). I’m happy to agree that not all films need to be laid out so they’re obvious, but White Noise needed… something. Perhaps half the plot.
I did know that this had A24 in it, but I had magically forgotten by the time I’d sat down for the screening. They do pick ‘em. It’s love or hate with their releases, sadly this falls into the latter.
Looking for highlights, the cloud and the end credits stand out for me. The credits evidently make a bit more sense if you’ve read the book (in a roundabout way), but either way, it helped lift my mood before having to leave my comfy chair.
Scoring this was tricky. I have a score that’s reserved for films that have a major missed opportunity. I have a score that I give films I don’t like, but I can see why everyone else does. I don’t think I have a score for this, it fits under so many of my criteria. I just knew I couldn’t go above a two because that’s where we get into the “I can understand why a handful of people could enjoy this” territory… and this was just too chaotic for that.
What you should do
If you haven’t already realised, I’m not feeling a recommendation on this one, perhaps if you’ve read the book you might be able to make sense of it... but it may just raise more questions.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
André 3000 dancing with a box of cookies.
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