Writer/director Noah Baumbach's White Noise is an adaptation of the acclaimed 1985 National Book Award-winning novel by Don Delillo that has often been described as "unfilmable." Full disclosure: I have never read the book, but after seeing the film, I am inclined to believe those people have a point.
Adam Driver plays Jack Gladney, a professor of "Hitler studies" at a liberal arts college. Gladney is on his fourth marriage, and his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) is a seemingly cheerful woman who is taking a mysterious prescription drug. They also live with their children (both from their marriage and previous marriages). One day, a chemical spill prompts an evacuation, which leads Gladney to face troubling questions about his own mortality.
Great films made by directors ranging from Akira Kurosawa to Woody Allen to Paul Schrader have featured people coming to grips with the idea that they will die one day and wondering whether or not there is a God/afterlife waiting for us when we die. The problem with White Noise is that none of the characters feel real. Their dialogue is very stilted and artificial. Perhaps this played better on the page, but on film it keeps the viewer at arm's length. It's hard to feel for the characters when the characters don't feel real.
In an era where so many films are increasingly dour, solemn, and impressed with their own importance as they address important issues, White Noise to its credit at least attempts to be funny some of the time. It succeeds on occasion, but more often the jokes land with a thud. Baumbach will likely rebound, but White Noise joins the likes of Amsterdam, Empire of Light, and Nope as misfires from talented directors this year.
