“White Noise” Review
Greta Gerwig (Far Left) and Adam Driver (Far Right) are the parents of a family trying to escape a toxic leak in Noah Baumbach’s quirky comedy “White Noise.”
I really wanted to like this film. I love Noah Baumbach’s work as a writer and director and he’s worked on a lot of films that I hold dear. He cowrote two films with Wes Anderson (“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox”), made a fascinating documentary about Brian De Palma and has written and directed some amazing films including “While We’re Young,” “Frances Ha,” “The Meyerowitz Stories” and “Marriage Story.” This is a guy that has me excited for the freaking “Barbie” movie since he’s cowriting it with his partner and renowned filmmaker Greta Gerwig. So, imagine my disappointment with “White Noise” which didn’t connect with me on the level I wanted, especially considering Baumbach’s extensive resumé.
Set in 1984, the film focuses on a college professor of Hitler studies named Jack Gladney (Adam Driver), his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) and their four children. Everyone in this family has their own neuroses and quirks but one they all share is their fear of death. This fear is exacerbated when a toxic chemical leak occurs near their town and everyone panics. When the dust settles and everyone seems to go back to normal, Jack and Babette still have a tough time grappling with their situation and their fear of death appears to keep getting worse.
While I’m sure “White Noise” is saying something interesting, the film just wasn’t investing enough for me to look deeper. I’d be glad to hear what others have to say about the film because, for me, this over two hour film felt like a 136 minute block of, well, white noise. The biggest problem of “White Noise” is with its script. While one criticism I’ve heard is that it’s overwritten, that doesn’t bother me. Like Wes Anderson, Baumbach relishes in long conversations that feel more like music with characters being blunt yet poetic at the same time.
The real problem is with characterization because everyone in this film sounds the same. There’s not a line that could only come from Jack or a line that could only be said by Jack’s colleague Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle), a professor of Elvis studies. Some of the actors, like Driver and Gerwig, manage to make this dialogue work reasonably well along with Raffery Cassidy and Sam Nivola who play Denise and Heinrich, the eldest children of the Gladney family. They all have fun moments that made me want to see what would happen but that’s about it.
On top of that, “White Noise” feels completely unsure of what it wants to be. There’s so much being thrown at the wall to the point where nothing was sticking with me. At first, it feels like it’s going to feel like it’s going to be about all of these crazy people trapped in a situation that is beyond their control, which could lead to some interesting commentary about the COVID-19 pandemic. But that is only about half of the film. The rest of it is a meandering mess that doesn’t even have an ending as much as a stopping point.
For me, the best part is when the toxic leak ensues and people panic. In the middle of the film, there’s a riveting car chase with the Gladneys that has a great comedic payoff. Or maybe it was a great payoff because it was one of the only times I laughed in the film. “White Noise” tries to take itself way too seriously and that’s where it falls apart. Coupled with a really long runtime that could have been trimmed by 20 minutes, this is not what I expected from a filmmaker that I love.
If I were to do a comparison to give you an idea as to what “White Noise” is, imagine “Doctor Strangelove” if Peter Sellers played every character in the exact same way and the disaster wasn’t even that grave. While it’s not Baumbach’s best work, I still can’t wait to see what he will do in the future. He’s given me so many wonderful films that I’m more than willing to forgive a misstep.
