White Noise – Film Review

College professor Jack Gladney and his family’s comfortable suburban life is upended when a nearby chemical leak causes “The Airborne Toxic Event,” releasing a noxious black cloud over the region that forces the Gladney family to evacuate.

It’s been a long three years since Noah Baumbach has blessed us with an incredibly deep, intricately-layered, and sweeping comedy-drama about everyday people living their everyday lives that just so happen to be extremely fascinating given the circumstance.

I was hoping that his latest film White Noise was going to blow me away like every single one of his other movies but that sadly wasn’t the case here. Baumbach’s new film is an absurdist comedy-drama film that is adapted from the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo, which is famously said to have been unfilmable.

Surely, if anybody would be able to break the curse and prove to the world that White Noise is filmable, it would’ve been Baumbach but sadly, he went ahead and ended up proving even further that it’s not filmable. This isn’t an awful movie by any means, but it’s certainly not a good one which is a humongous disappointment.

Up until this point, I’ve absolutely loved every single one of Baumbach’s outings, with Marriage Story being my personal favorite. It’s a devastating drama that feels like we’re watching two people in a relationship that’s crashing and burning with every passing scene.

The problem here with White Noise is unfortunately the script. Baumbach definitely got a little bit confused on how to tell this story that deals with themes such as fear, control, death, and consumer culture and identity. It all just strikes me as a little bit odd considering how Baumbach has mastered tackling so many themes in the past with his other works.

Luckily, the film isn’t all bad as there are moments of genuine awe and wonder that are sure to sweep you right off of your feet. It’s also a film that’s remarkably well-acted from everyone on board including Adam Driver in the role of Jack Gladney. Driver is honestly one of the best actors of our entire generation. Have you ever seen him turn in a performance that was anything less than stellar? Exactly.

Greta Gerwig is also fantastic as Babette, as is Raffey Cassidy in the role of Denise. It was especially great to see Cassidy deliver yet another wonderful performance as I truly feel as though she is one of the most underrated actresses working today. Here’s hoping she gets more roles in the future.

With a convoluted script that can’t tackle the raw emotions and themes of its source material, White Noise is unfortunately, Noah Baumbach’s first disappointment.