Waking the Dead
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Movie Reviews of Waking the Dead
Movie Review: Bravo!
Summary: 5 Stars
WOW! I think Jennfier Connely was real & the CIA made it look like there was a fire. Great acting by both main characters.
Movie Review: Fielding Pierce runs for Congress haunted by his dead love
Summary: 4 Stars
Things get a little too cute at the end of "Waking the Dead," and while I appreciate the idea of leaving up what "really" happened to the audience, I do not think that this was the film was the one in which to try this particular trick. After all, this movie is not a ghost story, even though the main character is haunted by the dead woman that he loved, but a film that mixes romance and politics to the point where the film's big question really matters and should have been answered more directly.In 1982 a stunned Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) learns form the evening news that the woman he loves, Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connely) has been killed by a car bomb attack because of her involvement in opposing the corrupt government of Chile and U.S. involvement. We then go back to see how they first met, when he was serving in the Coast Guard, to avoid going to Vietnam, and she was the secretary for his brother, who is running some sort of counter culture magazine. He longs for a career in politics and she wants to bring down the system. Yet when Fielding says he wants to be president some day, she smiles because he clearly means it.
These two characters from Scott Spencer's novel are politically polarized and these differences only grow as the two fall in love. They take turns accompanying each other to important social functions at which the other one become an embarrassment, before Sarah goes off and gets killed for her beliefs. Ten years later Fielding is given the opportunity to run in a special election for a seat in the U.S. Congress, as the handpicked choice of the governor and his chief political hack (Hal Holbrook). This is the first step to what Fielding has wanted his entire life, only Sarah sees it as a betrayal. True, Sarah has been dead ten years at this point, but that does not stop Fielding from first hearing and then seeing her.
Is Fielding going insane, is he being haunted, or is this some sort of sick game? Good question, but do not ask me the answer because I watched the movie. It is hard to spoil a movie when you are not sure what really happened at the end, although I could hazard a guess. Ultimately, the politics clashes between Fielding and Sarah are more interesting than their romance. You have to wonder how their relationship would have ended if she had not died, because sooner or later one of them would have had to blink. One of the strengths of "Waking the Dead" is that both of them are right and you think that if only they could find a way to work together great things could happen.
"Waking the Dead" is one of those titles that has a double meaning, for it applies to Fielding as much as it does to Sarah. That sense of ambiguity pervades Keith Gordon's 2000 film and certainly explains why the ending is so open to interpretation. But for me it does not quite work in the end, although Fielding's scene in his Congressional office works much better than his dinner with his family. Still, this is an interesting film for those who like to see film that try to play with an audience's mind (and which should be avoid like the plague by those who did enjoy "Fight Club" or "Memento").
Movie Review: Superb, but as usual, less than the book it was based upon
Summary: 4 Stars
I read "Waking the Dead" a few months before watching the movie. I was thus certainly biased in a certain direction in favor of the book.
Keith Gordon, who also directed the outstanding and under-appreciated films "A Midnight Clear" and "Mother Night", stays pretty much faithful to the original material by Scott Spencer. It's obvious that films are different than books and directors need a certain amount lattitude to change the story as needed. Gordon certainly left a lot of the story on the cutting room floor and that is, for the most part, not a problem.
What is the problem is that Gordon didn't flesh out Sarah's story and, as a result, offers a skewed ending that the book doesn't share.
Spoiler Alert
Sarah and Fielding are not "opposites" as many suggest. They happen to agree politically. They're both "liberals." Where they disagree is on tactics. The problem with the film is that we don't really see enough of Sarah to understand just how different her tactics are compared to Fielding and why, ultimately, she chose to go away. The movie's ending is ambiguious about the fate of Sarah. Did she die or didn't she? The book shares some of this approach, but it strongly leans in the direction of Sarah having faked her death. In the book Fielding meets with a priest who states that Sarah is alive. And when Sarah and Fielding finally meet at the end Sarah explains how she is living underground and continuing her work. We're given, at least in the text, a reason why Sarah chose the path that she did. Gordon, however, mostly gives us Fielding's side of things. In the process he detracts from the central conflict and ends up with a rather wishy-washy ending.
I strongly recommend this film. The DVD has many interesting extras, including many deleted scenes and a commentary by Gordon. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything on the DVD from the original author, Scott Spencer. That's too bad because I think he could have added some really interesting insights about the story overall. And of course, read the book which is, as usual, even better than the movie.
Movie Review: Billy Crudup Gets Awaken By Jennifer Connelly.
Summary: 4 Stars
Waking Up The Dead is mysterious story about undying love, desires, and politics clash between two star-crossed lovers played by Jennifer Connelly(Sarah) and Billy Crudup(Fielding). There are many irreconcilable differences between the them, but for some reason, they were destined to be together for a some divine purposes, and both refuse to compromise their interests.
Sarah is a church activist, and she goes out of her way to make the world a better place, including taking on life-threatening volunteer work in Chile. Her Boyfriend Fielding was raised by high-society politician parents, and he intended to ran for senator. She's very outspoken, and caused quite a scene when she expressed her angry opinions toward his fellow politician. During her sanctuary mission in Chile, she was reported dead in an attack, but it's not clear whether she did die or just faked it. Her "death" changed Fielding a great deal, and in the course of ten years span, he constantly thought about her, and imagined her still alive. His perspective and intensions on being a politician also gets reconsidered during election. Ultimately, he's the dead that gets awaken, because he was careless and selfish before Sarah "died". She had "come back" from the dead to awaken his true passion and kindness, so that he wouldn't become just part of the corrupted world of politicians.
Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup had plenty of chemistry together, but she's more striking in group scenes. He's quite impressive when he gets the anxiety attack moments. Janet Mcteer's part is not very challenging for her, considered that she had done great work in the Oscar-nominated Tumbleweeds. Most disappointing thing was the casting of Sandra Oh as a Korean Massage worker. She get to deliver two lines in an supposedly authentic Korean accent, and she had just two scenes total. She really didn't have to take this tiny role, because she's a multi-award winning actress from Canada!
Movie Review: "Words support like bone"
Summary: 4 Stars
Both Jennifer Connely and Billy Crudup shine in this heart-wrenching film about lost love. I was particularly moved by Billy Crudup's amazing performance. It was filled with anger and confusion, longing and despair, but ultimately hope. His acting here is as good as any actor could possibly attempt; some of his scenes are so intense that they seem out of place with the rest of the movie, and only Jennifer Connelly ever keeps up with him. The remaining scenes show him numb with the loss of his true love. His performance is truly remarkable. There is also a "sex" scene between Jennifer and Billy that was pulled off so convincingly that it looked as though they actually were making love. The intensity they both bring to that scene is genuinely amazing. There is also another montage of scenes that takes place late in the film with the Peter Gabriel song "Mercy Street" played in full that is so perfectly placed it seemed as thought the song were written specifically for this film. Another remarkable moment. The pace is deliberately slow, the plot jumps back and forth in time, and some of the scenes seem staged for the benefit of Billy Crudup, but overall this is a moving experience. The writing is also excellent but sounds more like a play than a screenplay. However, this is a landmark event for Billy Crudup, and a completely different character than Russell Hammond in the film "Almost Famous." If you love great acting, look no further than this movie.