The filmmakers aimed to make something hilarious and horrifying, but missed the mark in this adaptation of a postmodern novel about the fear of death. A simple google search about the source material reveals that for years many people felt the story of the novel would not translate to the screen. Those people were right. Credit to the filmmakers for trying, but simply trying does not make an enjoyable movie watching experience for the audience. The film is well cast with big stars and the performances are good, but it hinges on fluid and fast paced often overlapping dialogue that says so much but yet says so little. The film tries too hard to be high art, and maybe it is, maybe psychology classes can examine these characters and dissect every line and find the hidden meaning, but the normal audience will most likely be bored by it all. The film tries to do too many things. Is it a story about an emergency health crisis? Is it a story about a failed marriage? Is it a story about a midlife crisis? Drug addiction? Depression? Anxiety? Infidelity? Why was there a whole segment on Americans fascination with car crashes in movies? I'm sure the novel would be great fodder for a college level class spending a semester examining the themes, but as a two hour movie it just didn't work.
Review of White Noise
