Customer Reviews

Waking the Dead

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Keith Gordon has again bowled me over with a magnificent piece of filmmaking. "Waking the Dead" shares many of the same elements as his "A Midnight Clear" (still in my view the best WWII drama of modern times) -- a skillful adaptation of a powerful novel, intense performances from the entire cast, and careful attention to the rhythm and pacing of his story. And two other things that are especially rare in today's mainstream movies: the deliberate ambiguity of the ending and nuanced characters that are neither black nor white but multiple shades of grey. Hollywood must hate this, and it must baffle many moviegoers. The general public is force-fed so many lifeless, undemanding, predictable movies with cardboard characters that they probably didn't reward this gem at the box office (Gordon's commentary track implies that this movie was a semi-flop, commercially, which is tragic -- and probably makes it only harder for him to continue to shoot quality films). One hopes "Waking the Dead" will find its audience on home video, much as the well-respected "A Midnight Clear" (which I saw several times in the theatre) seems to have.

Another reviewer has pointed out the double-meaning behind the title -- the "dead" here refers to both Sarah, believed to be physically dead, and Fielding, who has found his soul wasting away since losing her. Can Fielding bring himself as well as Sarah back to life? The story is also tellingly noncommittal as to Sarah's actual status. By the end of the film, we still don't know if Sarah is secretly alive, a ghost from the other side, or simply a product of Fielding's mental breakdown. Everything in the script leaves the question wide open for interpretation, and the effect is both chilling and intensely moving. The emotional wave of the story builds to a final confrontation between the principal characters that is truly heart-rending.

I think this is one of those movies best served by a review that does not give away too many surprises or attempt to detail too much of the plotline. Suffice to say that if you appreciate a human-scale drama that operates on several levels of meaning, you will find yourself drawn in by this one and riveted by the performances of Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly. It's a film that only gets richer and more rewarding with every viewing. Looking for a love story/ghost story for grown-ups? "Waking the Dead" is a sure-fire winner.

Some parting notes:

Most directors today hit you over the head with the soundtrack music and then lazily try to let the songs carry the picture. While Gordon is not totally above this contemporary shorthand, he has enough good taste and filmmaking savvy not to let this technique dominate these scenes. And his musical selections are spot-on.

Although Connelly and Crudup are THE key players, the entire cast is outstanding, and deserves a bow.

The DVD extras are generous and revealing. Unlike the deleted scenes from Gordon's "A Midnight Clear," which did seem disposable, I felt all these cut scenes SHOULD have been restored for a "Waking the Dead" Extended Cut. It's sad that they can't be part of the regular narrative; they add a wealth of character development and detail that would have made the theatrical version even richer. Ed Harris, in particular, is deservedly singled out by Gordon's commentary and reviewers here for his exceptional portrayal of a disgraced congressman.

I read the book AFTER I saw the film, being inspired to learn more about this story's genesis. While very fine, I have to say that I still prefer the movie and its more immediate impact. But that's par for the course -- I tend to always prefer the medium in which I was first exposed to something, be it print form or cinematic. I would recommend the novel to anyone who likes the picture. But I note with some bemusement that Fielding seems a much less likable fellow in the book.

Waking the Dead sort-of disappeared shortly after it's first viewing at the Sundace Film Festival this year, and it's really quite a shame. Written and Directed by Keith Gordon (Mother Night), Waking the Dead tells the story of Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup), a young man hoping to change the world within the political system. He encounters Sarah Williams(Jennifer Connely), a charity oriented, kind spirtied woman who hopes to change the world in spite of the system. The two fall very deeply in love, easily overcoming their differences. The tone changes, however, and Sarah dies in a car bombing while helping to assist a small country. We catch up with Fielding several years down the road, caught up in an important political race. However, somewhere deep inside, we see that he's changed, and haunted by Sarah. He begins to believe he sees her throught his world. Suddenly he has to decide if she still lives, and if so, what is he willing to sacrifice to be with her again. The performances are what delivers this film. Crudup, who's curging career resemlbes that of his character, nails the role. Connely, who shakes off her earlier acting criticisms, compliments and hinges the film. Overall, I highly enjoyed and really related to this film. It creates wonderfully simplistic moments, and carries you through what would be a very depressing film at the hands of a less talented cast and crew

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.

Writer-director Keith Gordon's "Waking the Dead" caught me off guard and - dare I say it? - moved me to tears. But what's almost as sad as the movie itself is that this 1999 release - which works beautifully as both a tragic love story and a psychological thriller - slipped in and out of theaters virtually unnoticed.

Based on the novel by Scott Spencer, the film opens in 1972, where we meet Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup), a young U.S. Coast Guard officer with big political ambitions. He meets Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly), a secretary and political activist who works at his hippie brother's New York publishing house, and the two are smitten right away. But tragedy strikes ...

Without giving too much away, I will say that "Waking the Dead" cuts back and forth between the early '70s and the early '80s, producing a subjective, stream-of-consciousness narrative that manages to be compelling instead of confusing. Also, I liked the use of color and lighting to visually differentiate between the '70s scenes (warm earth tones) and the '80s scenes (cold, dark colors).

But unlike "The Matrix" and "Memento," which used subjective narrative to play head games with the audience as its central gimmick, "Waking the Dead" is after bigger game. The ambiguity surrounding Sarah underscores how deeply her memory haunts Fielding, the toll it has taken on his mental state, and how deeply they love each other, despite the cruel blow fate has dealt them.

The soundtrack also features lovely songs by Joni Mitchell ("A Case of You"), Lori Carson ("Snow Come Down") and Peter Gabriel ("Mercy Street"); alas, no soundtrack CD was ever made. The DVD also includes 45 minutes of deleted scenes, including a brief but engaging performance by Ed Harris, whose character only appeared onscreen (in TV footage, no less) for about 10 seconds in the final cut.

Just make sure you have a box of tissues and a wastebasket handy before you push "play." You have been warned.

The film itself, the style and political aspect/theme, did not impress me. There's nothing particularly compelling about the flashbacks-style wise-that drive the story. But what sets this film apart from others, what motivated me to keep watching, was Billy Crudup. Granted, I'm incredibly taken with this outstanding actor, but his performance in *Waking the Dead* surprised even me.

Crudup would have been the finest of actors in the days of silent movies because his facial expressions are exquisite. He need never speak a word and yet you would swear that you felt every emotion that his character felt right along with him. In my mind there is no one comparable to him in this regard. Perhaps it is just that he has this truly remarkable presence. You want to watch him no matter what subject he is dealing with on screen because he somehow makes you care.

Aside from his acting, or perhaps more aptly *because* of it, this movie is painfully, beautifully, intimate. At times it felt like I was witnessing things I had no right to. And because of that atmosphere I knew I had to own it within twenty-four hours of viewing it.

I won't be writing anything like a movie critic. But I know one thing that this movie is created and I believe the scenario is written by someone who knows what it is to really fall in love and really lose someone you love at such a young age and so unexpectedly.
As someone who has lost my beloved at age 29 due to random murder on street. The way the actor plays out grief process is just real. I BELIEVE THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE WĘTHOUT EXAGGERATIONS AND CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD EMOTIONS, FOR THOSE WHO HAS LOST A LOVED ONE.
The script has exact same statements I have been telling people about how I felt."It doesn't get any better, it just goes on,it just goes on". The behaviour of the people surrounding the grieving actor is just the same I have experienced. All those people who tell you and try to convince you that in time you will start to feel better. But the heartbreaking fact that you never feel any better, you just stop talking about it, you get back into the daily routines and people think that time started to show its healing effect. They are unable to see what goes in your brain when walking on the street, while in a business meeting when alone at home, when making love to someone else -but your loved one-.
I just wanna congratulate everyubody who took part in this magnificiently TRUE story of how one will live after such an unpleasant experience. You couldn't have explained it any better.
A must see!!

This film was a genuinely personal experience for me. Unpretentious and devoid of fictitious sentimentality. I found this to be the most down-to-earth love story I have ever seen. To state that the movie, for me, was a moving experience, would be a gross understatement. One of the very finest displays of acting ever produced. The main characters exude stunning love chemistry.

This is a story of destiny. The power of destiny over insurmountable odds, even that of true love. I consider this approach to love, very true to life. Some of you will not be able to relate, and some of you will. For some of you, like myself, it may be as if you are seeing you life in front of you.

This film can be truly powerful, and it depends on the viewer and where they are coming from. The only thing I can recommend is to see for yourself. This is not the type of movie that you can read a review and make a decision on. As you will note, there are many reviewers that were affected by this film. For me, this film was a ride through a lifetime of emotion, incredibly powerful.

Jodie Foster was the executive producer on this haunting film about a real love between two people which may even be strong enough to transend death. Jennifer Connelly could easily have garnered an Oscar here if anyone had noticed. This is a real film about real people, filled with quiet passion and heartbreak. The questions it poses are not easily answered. Can we ever forget real love and move on? Are those we loved still with us somehow after death?

Jennifer Connelley is Sarah Williams, a young and bright girl with a heart too full of love and compassion to let injustice rule the world. She is trying to make a difference through her church's efforts in Chile to smuggle out refugees when a bomb explodes, changing the life of her lover Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) forever.

What follows are shifts in time as we see the young John Kennedy-like Fielding find true love with this wonderful girl who doesn't seem to fit in with his political aspirations. It is a real and tender love explored more fully by director Keith Gordon than we often see today in films. Sarah becomes the cricket on his shoulder, his conscience for all that is good.

But years later he still can not move on from that moment when his life ended. It is as though his soul was killed in the blast as well. Fielding is about to become a congressman while at the same time unsure if he is losing his sanity. A snowy night turns dark and he feels Sarah in the snow surrounding him. He begins to see her watching him. Is it possible she is still alive? Or is love reaching across the threshold of death.

We may not have any conclusive answers when this film is over as we are left haunted as well, which was the point. Crudup is terrific as a phone call brings him to the brink of a mental breakdown and Connelly gives a haunting performance as the love that saves him once more. How she does so is left up to us. This is a somber and beautiful meditation on love and how lucky we are to ever find it.

The shifts in time are mesmerizing in this richly romantic and hauntingly beautiful film you must see. It is genuinely unique and never to be forgotten once you have.

An adult film; finally an adult film! This achingly beautiful, loving and soulful film, directed by Keith Gordon, took me inside characters so real and so believable I wish I had them for friends. The story revolves around Fielding Pierce (the fine, vulnerable and nuanced actor, Billy Crudup) and Sarah Williams (the sensitive and sensuous Jennifer Connelly), who fall in love because of their differences which are also their strong and bonding similarities: they care people, and they care about the world. One is driven to change from within the 'system' and one works from the outside of it. Yet, their love is their anchor and their north star. Using flashbacks judiciously, and heightening the story of Fielding and Sarah, the film traces Fielding's emotional and spiritual crisis after it appears that Sarah has died. With fine supporting performances, and a sharp compassionate script based upon a novel of the same name by Scott Spencer (who appears briefly), 'Waking the Dead' is a cup overflowing with adult themes after a long stretch of mostly summer adolescent celluloid .... Take your sweetie, or someone who you want to be your sweetie to this original and finely crafted film. (I viewed it on the Sundance Channel.)

What can I say about Waking The Dead? 1000 words doesn't quite cover the depth and scope of the emotions this film has stirred in me. I got it this week and having watched it, I can honestly say it will stay with me for the rest of my life. I have been walking around in a kind of melacholy ever since the end credits rolled. I feel we would be lucky men and women, to experience the kind of true, all consumming love, that Jennifer Connelly nd Billy Crudup portray in Waking The Dead. Both these young stars give Oscar worthy performances (of both love and personal commitment and conflict) within a tightly crafted and beautifully executed piece of cinema from writer director Keith Gordon. The design, music and cinematography in this story are haunting, adding to the depth of feeling it must surely bring out of the viewer. Indeed, I defy anyone with a soul, who's ever been in love, NOT to cry at this movie. I have been in love with Jennifer Connelly since I was 13 years old (and I first saw her in Labyrinth and Some Girls), but this is by far and away her finest performance. Billy Crudup portrays heartbroken despair, and a near spiral into nervous breakdown, the likes of which I have never seen on celluloid. My heartfelt recommendation is that any Amazon customer reading this, with a taste for fine human drama, buys a copy of this DVD now! My only regret is that I can't give it anymore than 5 stars for quality and depth. Sheer excellence from start to finish. I will treasure this title. You will too. Enjoy!!