‘But out of some persistent sense of large-scale ruin, we keep inventing hope...’
Historically, I’ve never been a fan of Noah Baumbach. He is capable of great scenes but not one of his films would I describe as great generally. Marriage Story was a case in point. The now-infamous argument scene in that film is an instant classic but the rest of it is fairly underwhelming. White Noise is probably the first Baumbach movie that I actually enjoyed from start to finish…
Jack (Adam Driver) is a college professor floundering in his professional life, receiving clandestine German lessons from his colleague Murray (Don Cheadle) despite being a supposed expert in German studies. His fourth with Bebette (Greta Gerwig) has problems of her own. Namely an overwhelming fear of death that she conquers with an experimental drug named Dylar. All of these issues come into sharp focus in the wake of an airborne toxic event leading to a mass evacuation.
Much of the stuff that usually annoys me about Baumbach’s work is still very much present and correct. Precocious children. An upper-middle-class protagonist. The faint whiff of pretension. An unnecessarily long running time. And yet, the way this film is packaged is totally different to his usual fare. Set in 1984, White Noise also borrows the aesthetic from that era, something that Baumbach achieves so emphatically that this actually feels like something that could have been directed by Joe Dante back in the day. The idiosyncratic director perfectly captures the essence of that era of cinema in a way that never feels like pastiche, and crucially, still feels like a Baumbach film. He is aided by a fine performance from Driver, who does a great job in mimicking the speech and cadence of the leading men of the era, plus a series of enjoyable cameos that I won’t spoil here.
White Noise has divided critics and audiences alike, as much of Baumbach’s work does, but for the first time, I feel like I truly get one of his movies. Now, I finally understand what all the fuss is about. Sure, it’s too long, but the look of the film, plus the performances and Danny Elfman’s nostalgic score ensure that White Noise is a winner. Any film that features the entire cast dancing to LCD Soundsystem in a supermarket is okay by me.