Official Synopsis:
Academy Award winner Tim Robbins stars as David Owen, a Manhattan husband and father so unhinged by the noise outside his window that he declares a one-man war on car alarms. But when David goes over the edge and becomes a citywide noise-vigilante known as 'The Rectifier', he incurs the wrath of New York's sleazy blowhard Mayor (a hilarious performance by Oscar winner William Hurt) who vows to stop him. How much damage will one guy inflict for a little peace and quiet?
   
Our Take:
Noise depicts the type of vigilante activity that we as real humans could not only see and believe while watching the news, but also the type of vigilantism that would be sort of refreshing if  someone out there really was playing the “superhero” while we’re all cooped up inside.

Tim Robbins plays a man who absolutely everyone should be able to relate too. I honestly don’t know a single person who doesn’t get annoyed or angry when a car alarm blares for minutes at a time or a motorcycle whizzes by my house with a rumble louder a jet plane that’s bordering on the line of causing ear damage. That kind of thing is just annoying, I don’t care who you are. And if you’re Tim Robbins, you get fed up and decide to take some action against it.

In Noise, we find out all the ins and outs of the workings of car alarms (and how they actually benefit the thief while he steals your car) in great detail and then we watch as one man claims his stake in NYC and decides to personally disable everyone’s alarm that ever goes off. This of course entails smashing through the driver’s side window of each of these cars, but hey, there’s bound to be a few casualties.

Special features on the DVD include:

* Interviews with Cast and Crew (38 minutes).

* Audio Commentary with Director Henry Bean.

* Behind The Scenes: Courtroom (7 minutes).

Noise plays better when you realize that this is a fictionalized account of Henry Bean’s life, as he used to disable car alarms in this fashion – and then he ended up in jail for doing so. It’s a comedy about a serious situation, which manages to find the balance between the strong handed side of a man’s failing marriage to the comedic “superhero” aspect of the film.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B
DVD: B+

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer