Noise – DVD Review

Film, Reviews, Top Story

Available at Amazon.com

Things done in repetition are usually looked at as either boring or inconsequential. Boring for those that realize what they are doing and inconsequential for those who go into a trance and do said things simply because it is habit. It all depends on how people perceive things and whether they are going to put up with such actions for their entire lives or even just a little while. Oddly enough, Noise is a film that discusses what it’s like for someone to finally stand up and take action against all the things that most others just sit back and put up with it. But the film also suffers from constant repetition that gets old rather quickly.

David Owen (Tim Robbins) is a nice man that has a beautiful family with a gorgeous wife and young daughter. Together they moved to New York, the big city, where he has a good-paying job that he does well at. But there is something bothering David and it’s probably something that affects millions of people around the world, and that’s noise. Car alarms going off in the streets for hours. Ambulance and police sirens wailing away as they zoom down streets. Jackhammers tearing apart the sidewalks and thousands of cars honking every single hour. Sure he could just shut the window and try to ignore it as everyone usually does, but it’s just not that simple for David. He wants to do something about it.

David takes it upon himself to take matters into his own hands and therefore he becomes “The Rectifier.” If a car alarm is going off for a long time and not being turned off, David delivers a nice shot to the window with a hammer. He pops the hood, clips the battery cable, and places a “Rectifier” sticker right in plain sight. For a while he was getting caught and being arrested for his actions, but that was before he got smart and sneaky. Too bad it cost him his marriage and forced him to live in a part of town that was even noisier then before. But now he is more prepared to wage war on the inconsiderate citizens of the world, and those who agree with his madness applaud him. Still, there is a self-centered mayor that aims to stop him dead in his tracks.

When Noise first starts out, you’re going to probably look around at all those you are viewing it with and share a look of confusion and thoughts of “WTF?” will spread throughout the room. Give it a few more minutes and you’ll begin laughing and start saying things like “You know he’s right? He’s doing what everyone wants to do, but they just don’t have the balls to do so.” From the research I’ve done, writer/director Henry Bean was the inspiration for this film and he was actually arrested numerous times for his actions mirroring that of the Rectifier. It’s a film that will get you talking and really get you wondering why more people haven’t tried to do the actions portrayed in it. Then it just keeps happening. He breaks more windows, cuts more wires, plants more stickers. It gets old. It gets stale. It gets boring, and it’s only ninety minutes.

The concept is really fun and quite interesting especially when you find out that it is based loosely on actual events. What David Owen does in the film is exactly what ninety percent of the world’s population has always wanted to do, but never had the courage to do so. It would make for a good film if it was shortened to an hour or just under that in length. There isn’t enough of a conflict to really care for it as a feature film. Owen’s battles with the mayor don’t even really start until there’s about twenty minutes left so it is literally just him breaking into cars, dealing with this addiction, and talking about it. There is a surprisingly illicit sex scene a good bit into the film that starts with some steamy talk that will get your interest piqued again, but then it’s a quick fast forward to the cuddling and all is lost. I applaud the attempt, but the effort failed halfway through.

The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and it looks alright. It is kind of a drab film with dull colors and nothing really to stand out so its fine for the mood it was going for.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and this is a department that Noise excels in because it needed to get the viewing audience into the same frame of mind that David (Robbins) was in. One scene in particular has Owen fighting with his wife outside and something just kept bugging me, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. Then my girlfriend asks me, “You hear all the things going on around the room?” And it was then I noticed the birds chirping, the horns honking, jackhammers pounding, tires screeching, alarms going off, and sirens blasting. Nice work.

Audio Commentary – Writer/director Henry Bean is flying solo for this commentary track. Bean just goes through every scene letting you know what is happening on screen which can get rather dull, but he does relay some backstage info that keeps you interested enough. An awkward note is that Bean says he knows “sex scenes” can be rather uncomfortable when being filmed so he partly undressed as well during them. Ooooooook!

Cast & Crew Interviews – There are ten interviews in total with pretty much everyone in the film and the then the director, producers, etc… Each one ranges in length from a couple minutes to five or six and they discuss their characters, the meaning of the film, and the message that was trying to be put forth. Not bad and kind of nice getting the insight from so many different people. These interviews are very hard to hear though.

Behind The Scenes: Courtroom – Just some behind the scenes footage from the courtroom scene near the end of the film. Nothing much here. This feature runs seven minutes and forty seconds.

Promo

Trailer


Noise is not a bad film at all so don’t avoid it because of my comments, but try and understand that the good just went too far and ended up getting stale. The actions taken by David, played brilliantly by Robbins, really hit home and make you wish that you could be the one doing such things. Everything he does has to feel rather liberating and it’s truly all for a good cause, bettering mankind. Give the film a shot sometime and see if you can handle it for longer then I can because by the time the ending came; my attention was already mostly gone. The special features don’t provide much in the way of extra footage, but the interviews are perhaps the top choice for best feature as they provide fun and different looks at the film. Try a rental and give it at least a look through once or twice because the message is good, but the effort came up just a tad too short.

Oh, but make sure you catch the scene where David beats on a car to the tune of the car alarm. Rib-cracking funny stuff.

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Starz/Anchor Bay presents Noise. Directed by: Henry Bean. Starring: Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, William Hurt. Written by: Henry Bean. Running time: 91 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released on DVD: September 16, 2008. Available at Amazon.com