This unique and interesting film is actually more of a suspense thriller than a science fiction, although I think fans of both genres will be pleased.
Dennis Quaid plays a heroic firefighter who was killed trying to rescue a runaway from a burning warehouse during the days of the Amazing Mets' World Series victory in October 1969. Jim Caviezel ("The Thin Red Line") plays his son, now a cop, thirty years later. Through some quirk of physics involving abnormal solar activity and the Aurora Borealis, the two make contact with each other across the 30-year span over a ham radio. The son is able to prevent his father's death, but changing the past also turns out to have unexpected consequences with which the two must deal.
The film really works on all levels with good action sequences and suspense, a nice dose of humor and some very touching exchanges between father and son. It explores the "what if" scenario of one's being presented with the opportunity to change an event in the past and the way in which those affected must deal with the consequences in a very intelligent and thought-provoking manner.
The acting is uniformly strong, with Quaid very appealing as the courageous firefighter and loving father who has an almost-childlike love for baseball (he even pulls off a Brooklyn accent nicely!); Caviezel is equally good as the present day version of Quaid's character's son. Caviezel brings a subtle sadness to the character, a quality one might expect from someone whose life hasn't quite worked out quite as well as it might have, possibly due to a void created by the absence of his father. One of the strongest aspects of Caviezel's performance was a subtle shift in personality following the changing of events in the past (a change which left him with memories both of his father's death and of time spent with his father in the intervening years).
I have a good feeling about this film and think it has a chance to be a real surprise hit. It's certainly one of the best films of the year thus far.
