Noise (2004)

Director:

Tony Spiridakis

Writer:

Lance Doty (writer)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

What would you do for a good night's sleep?

Plot:

A riveting psychological drama about a woman (Trish Goff) trying to piece her life back together whose problems escalate when she confronts her mysterious upstairs neighbor (Ally Sheedy).

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Julia Barnett	...	Deaf Girl
Ted Bardy	...	Phil
Sarah Bloom	...	Jogger
Michelle Carano	...	Naomi
Jennifer Carter	...	New Tenant
Douglas Crosby	...	Veteran Cop
Dov Davidoff	...	Larry
Jeridette Donaldson	...	Margaret's Assistant
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Hank
Adam Ferrara	...	Young Detective
Sam Fontana	...	Chief Copy Editor
Craig Gass	...	Deaf Man
Mark Giordano	...	Young Cop
Trish Goff	...	Joyce Chandler
Nicole Hansen	...	Sheila (as Nikki Hansen)

Also Known As:

The Dark Descends (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence.

Runtime:

USA:84 min (Santa Barbara Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:MA (2008)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Rockville Pictures Inc.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the closing scene, Joyce is walking from the police station. There's a shot of her from the window which cuts back to the policeman standing in that window. When we see her again, she's not as far along on the sidewalk as she was when they first showed her.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Older Detective: Look at her go, like all the demons of hell are after her.

Slow and wordy.

Very early on the film takes on the feel of a meanderingly paced, talky version of 'Pacific Heights", which it self was a meanderingly paced, talky film. Some good performances come through, but not enough to save the film.

A recently divorced woman moves into a new apartment and tries to move on with her life. She soon discovers that her upstairs neighbor likes to crank up the noise at all hours of the night and keep her awake. When civility fails to resolve the problem and outside issues further complicate matters, the young lady must take more drastic steps.

From the start the film is determined to take it's time. Every scene unrolls at a languid pace, almost like it's challenging the audience to stay awake. Long, often pointlessly so, dialogue exchanges continue for what seems like an eternity only to end just in time for yet another needlessly lengthy dialogue exchange.

It would be fair to say that this over-abundance of exposition serves to build tension, except that there is little of no pay off to all the waiting. One could also say that it expounds on the character personalities were it not for that fact that in the end every one is motivated by either petty or unexplained reasons.

The filming matches the script to a 'T'. Aside for the occasional sporadic (actually kind of jarring) jump cuts, the film follows the events as they are, never appearing to be any more interested in what's happening that it needs to be.

The actors are what they are, an art house crowd for the most part. The lead actress is attractive (if REALLY skinny) and does a decent job with a character we have seen many times before. Ally Sheedy tries for neurotic, but comes off annoying.

Art house crowds might dig it's detached vibe, but most audiences will have a hard time ridding it to conclusion.

4/10