White Noise ☆☆ 1/2

Starring: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, and May Nivola

Directed by: Noah Baumbach

Tagline: You can't hear it if it's everywhere.

umour is notoriously subjective; what is amusing to one person may not be funny to the next. So I can only assume that whoever classified White Noise as a “comedy” must have a very different sense of humour than mine, because funny is not how I would describe this film.

A mishmash of surrealist drama, social satire, and existential noir, Noah Baumbach’s latest cinematic offering – the adaptation of Don DeLillo’s acclaimed postmodern novel – takes a quirky look at ideas like death and consumerism, wrapping its tale in an absurdist shroud and narrative zigzaggery so whimsical that it ends up making the proceedings more perplexing than engaging.

The blended Gladney family – Hitler studies professor Jack (Adam Driver), his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig), and their four kids from various relationships – is at the centre of this meandering drama. Jack is insecure about the fact that he can’t speak German; Babette is secretly taking a medication that may be causing her to forget things; while their kids appear to be trying to master the art of delivering overlapping dialogue.

The mundanity of their lives is interrupted when a truck-train collision causes a chemical leak that leads to an “airborne toxic event” in the area.

As the Gladneys deal with the consequences of the incident while facing their own mortality, the movie goes off on a chaotic journey that makes it seem like a handful of plotlines were – clearly intentionally – thrown into a blender and mixed unevenly to form a weird mishmash that teases several developments but then refuses to deliver.

There are some inspired sequences – like a dual Hitler-Elvis lecture given by Jack and his colleague Murray (Don Cheadle) – but while the film constantly intrigues, it rarely satisfies. The anxieties and fears at the movie’s core aren’t always as palpable as they should be, despite committed performances from a very impressive cast. And while there are moments that manage to generate an internal chuckle, even being a fan of absurdist comedy doesn’t guarantee that you will connect with the film’s sense of humour.

White Noise is confounding, confronting, and confusing, and that is perhaps what makes it fascinating. But ultimately, while this incoherent fever dream of a film does manage to deliver its message, there are times when the style ends up smothering the substance. Still, you can’t help but appreciate the project‘s ambition and applaud its courage to try something interesting and different.

Rating system: *Not on your life * ½ If you really must waste your time ** Hardly worth the bother ** ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only
*** Good enough for a look see *** ½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection