Michael Keaton's film resume has been incredible. After starring in many heartwarming comedies like Mr. Mom and Multiplicity in the '80s and '90s, the actor became beloved for starring in 1989's Batman. Keaton's career changed with the critically acclaimed artistic hit Birdman (2014) and with movies like Spotlight (2015) and The Founder (2016), Keaton has been impressing audiences with his dramatic acting chops.While a horror thriller movie isn't Michael Keaton's typical kind of project, the actor starred in the 2005 movie White Noise about a man devastated by the tragic death of his wife who thinks that he can still talk to her. While Keaton gives a great performance as usual, the movie is missing something critical: a plot.Fans are excited to see Michael Keaton play Batman in The Flash, but his 2005 movie White Noise might not be remembered by many people. Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, an architect whose wife Anna (Chandra West), a celebrated author whose new book is about to be released, dies in a car accident. While Rivers grieves, a man named Raymond Price (Ian McNeice) says that he talks to the dead and that Anna wants to send him a message. White Noise talks about Electronic voice phenomenon or EVP, and according to BBC, people hear radio static and believe that spirits are communicating with them. While some people believe that this is definitely possible, others think that it's not true and that people really want to believe that it is. While people watching the movie will have differing opinions on this topic, one thing is for sure: White Noise is very light on the plot and it's tough to stay interested.
White Noise gets points for setting, as Jonathan and Anna live in a beautiful house on the water, and it's definitely clear that an architect lives there. But as the movie settles into its second act, there's not much story to hold onto. Jonathan moves into a new house that is all cold concrete with huge windows, and as he becomes obsessed with trying to hear messages from Anna's ghost, there are too many scenes of Jonathan in his house at night. While some horror movies make up for plot with setting, it's hard not to want a bit more story here.After Jonathan goes to Raymond's house and sees his set-up there, as Raymond has tons of computers and radios and audio equipment and is committed to helping people communicate with their loved ones who have passed away, Jonathan believes that he can find a woman named Mary Freeman who has disappeared. This is when the movie really goes off the rails. Jonathan encounters demons at the place where Anna died and they end up killing him. Unlike the best thriller films, there aren't a lot of scares here.EMT does lend itself well to a movie, as it's a creepy yet interesting idea. In an interview with E Film Critic, Michael Keaton said that he was fascinated by the script and then learned that EMT does exist: "The first time I read it, I thought it was a cool idea and I kind of liked it but I didn't know how it would work. At that point, I thought it was just somebody's idea and I didn't know that EVP existed and that people had organizations and clubs and websites and that scientists had explored it. I had never heard of it but now there is a documentary and there is a big article coming out in The Guardian. There is tons of stuff about it around but I didn't know anything about it." But while Jonathan does bond with Sarah Tate (Deborah Kara Unger), a woman who discovered EMT after her fiance passed away, it would be more interesting and impactful if Jonathan heard his wife's voice in his house and then looked into EMT himself. It feels like the character is a bit too passive in the story.
While White Noise starts off fairly strong, as audiences learn that Jonathan and Anna are deeply in love and pregnant with their first child (Jonathan has a child from a previous marriage), the movie is ultimately too light on plot. Maybe Anna could communicate something with Jonathan about her past or a secret that he needs to find out, but there's definitely a lot more that could be done here.Unlike horror movies with open-ended finales, White Noise ends with Jonathan getting killed, and he communicates with his son and says "I'm sorry." This might be meant to be sweet and comforting, but it's incredibly dark to end the movie this way. Jonathan got too swept up in EMT and it cost him his life, but did he really help anyone? While Michael Keaton is an incredible actor, his performance can't save White Noise and the movie's plot is really lacking.