At one point in the new film “White Noise,” Michael Keaton walks into a dark room to find a television set pouring out an endless symphony of static. As he moves closer, a faint image begins to appear on the television with voices saying, “Go now!”

Could it be a spirit warning Keaton away from the film that will forever taint his career? No — it’s just another commercial coming in on a weak signal.

Still, it’s too bad Keaton didn’t listen to that cryptic television in the first place — he could have saved the audience from sitting through this abysmal movie.

In the film, Michael Keaton stars as architect Jonathan Rivers, whose wife is suddenly taken in a freak car accident. The grieving husband is soon contacted by a portly spirit guide, played by Ian McNeice, who says Rivers’ wife has been contacting him through random electronic equipment.

Rivers soon becomes obsessed with Electronic Voice Phenomena and starts to “meddle” with the spirits. Some of the spirits are good, some are bad, and for Rivers, some are just a pain in the ass.

It becomes clear, as one sits through this film, that Keaton didn’t do much to prepare for this film other than stare at static for 12 hours. He plays his character with an emotional randomness that is reminiscent of his performance in the 1996 film “Multiplicity.”

His variety show continues as he goes through the film — despondent about his wife one moment and peppy the next as he and his female opposite, Deborah Kara Unger, conspire about their impressive collection of video tapes.

To his defense, Keaton would feel out of place if his performance in this film were not as mixed and awkward as the rest of it. Many angles are introduced in this movie that could have a great potential if pursued, yet obviously weren’t.

Instead, director Geoffrey Sax cheapens the experience by trying to get cheap thrills with computer-generated non-descripts and reverting back to the static of random electronic equipment as the plot rather than the vehicle for introducing it.

The only scary things about “White Noise” is the fact that Michael “Batman” Keaton might be losing his acting edge. Even though playing the part of a grieving husband and father may prove challenging, Keaton was not able to pin down a basic, uniform persona.