White Noise

It's nice to see a director "open up" once in awhile.  Many of even the most esteemed tend to play similar notes over their careers, have their own trademarks.  Noah Baumbach had thus far served up collections of manic depressives acting badly, barely evidencing their chronological ages.  The same may be said for the principals in 2022's WHITE NOISE, but the scenarios around them, familiar concerns about death and such, have an absurdist, almost whimsical air so potent the characters can only follow suit.  And for the most part, Baumbach pulls it off, demonstrating a lighter, playful touch while reminding us at times of the Coen Brothers, John Irving, and even Steven Spielberg.  Some viewers have noted shades of The Simpsons.

Don DeLillo's 1985 novel was deemed by many to be unfilmable.  I have not yet taken that journey.  Word is that Baumbach's screenplay is mostly faithful to the source.  If there was ever an appropriate time to tackle this beast, our (post?) COVID-19 culture of late would be it.  The story, which takes place in the early '80s, involves a university professor named Jack Gladney (Adam Driver, who seems to be channeling Albert Brooks) whose expertise is on the life of Adolph Hitler, despite his not speaking German.  Babette (Greta Gerwig, quite good) is his fourth wife, who brings along daughter Denise (Raffey Cassidy).  Also part of this Brady Bunch is Jack's son, the loquacious Heinrich (Sam Nivola), daughter Steffie (May Nivola), and Wilder, the infant sibling conceived by Jack and Babette.  Both parents have a crippling fear of death, particularly if one dies before the other.  Babette insists those mysterious white tablets she pops are Tic-Tacs, but Jack soon learns they are a neuro drug called Dylar, which does not appear in any manuals or literature. 

The family weathers the crisis of what is described as an "Airborne Toxic Event", precipitated by a collision of a truck of chemical waste with a freight train.  The "plume" becomes a "cloud" and soon all are taking to the highways to evacuate, leading  them to chaotic quarantine camps.  These are where the Spielbergian scenes come in.   The crisis passes, but not before Jack discovers his death may be more imminent as he had prolonged exposure to the cloud.  Meanwhile, Babette becomes withdrawn and secretive, and clearly addicted to Dylar.  

Each character in WHITE NOISE, scored with suitable intensity by Danny Elfman, speaks like character commentary in a literary analysis, and the delightful dialogue works most of the time.  Baumbach immediately embraces the absurdism and asks us to buckle up.  The recognizable banalities of grocery stores and gas stations become surreal set pieces, particularly during the end titles.  Production designer Jess Gonchor and art director Chris Farmer indulge a wealth of color and symmetry.  If your brain is too tired to process DeLillo's and Baumbach's existentialist observations, you can amuse yourself with all the period accurate product placement.

The film did give me a headache at times, but I mostly went along with the parade.  Any one scene can be broken down into lengthy, scholarly essays for those so inclined.  Try the scene as Jack and his colleague Prof. Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle), an expert on the sociology of car crashes in Hollywood movies and Elvis Presley, compare and contrast the lives of their respective icons before a group of amazed students.  We as the audience may feel this way during at least some of WHITE NOISE.