'FREQUENCY' FINE - IF YOU DON'T MIND THE PLOT.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

There's nothing like a serial killer to bring a father and son together, particularly if there's an expansive generation gap between the two. And in the aggressively stupid ``Frequency,'' we're not talking about any ordinary generation gap. Here, the father and son are separated by the grave. But thanks to the aurora borealis and a trusty ham radio, the two men find they can relive the past, change the future, track down a murderer and still have time to argue about the batting order of the '69 Mets.

Director Gregory Hoblit (``Primal Fear,'' ``Fallen'') and first-time screenwriter Toby Emmerich have taken a genre that's been done to death in movies and ``The Twilight Zone'' and mixed in both grisly gore and sappy sentimentality to create an undisciplined clunker of a movie. ``Frequency'' wants to make you cry and jump out of your seat and the same time. But the film's rapidly shifting plot and tone only underscore the shaky and silly nature of its premise. It simply doesn't work.

Jim Caviezel plays John Sullivan, a hangdog New York cop who lost his firefighter father, Frank (Dennis Quaid), in a warehouse blaze 30 years ago. One night, during an electrical storm, John discovers that he can communicate with his father. Frank is still living in 1969, anxiously awaiting the first game of the '69 World Series featuring his amazin' Mets and blissfully unaware that he's soon going to perish in that warehouse fire.

John, of course, knows his old man is going to die, and once he has convinced his father that it's really him (some World Series info from the future helps), he can steer him clear of danger. But that opens up another can (make that a case) of worms. If Frank lives, others will die, including, most improbably, those whom Frank loves. But John, with the future on his side, might be able to prevent that, provided that ham radio stays in good working order.

Even for those willing to suspend disbelief, ``Frequency'' is a trying stretch of one's patience as well as a remarkably reckless exercise in filmmaking. The movie's reality shifts are somewhat interesting at first, but become increasingly illogical, often ignoring earlier plot points. Any element that doesn't fit into the movie's dubious world is immediately discarded. That's apparently how John can be presented as a drunk in one scene and a dutiful son in the next.

Hoblit tries to keep the film moving so fast that audiences won't notice the gaping holes in the story, but to no avail. The movie also makes a shameless foray into ``Field of Dreams'' territory with its baseball references and ghost-dad storyline. There's a kernel of a good movie here about the love between a father and son. Leave it to Hollywood to include the Son of Sam in the family reunion.

THE FACTS

--The film: ``Frequency'' (PG-13; for violence, some language).

--The stars: Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel.

--Behind the scenes: Directed by Gregory Hoblit. Screenplay by Toby Emmerich. Released by New Line Pictures.

--Running time: Two hours, one minute.

--Playing: Citywide.

--Our rating: Two stars.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- 2) Dennis Quaid, far left, plays the departed father and Jim Caviezel, right, plays his son in the time-travel movie ``Frequency.''

Box: THE FACTS (see text)