Waking The Dead

WAKING THE DEAD

Rating: C-
If you're one of those who don't appreciate flashbacks, you should probably avoid this film. The opening scene shows star Billy Crudup reacting to the news of lover Jennifer Connelly's death in a political car-bombing. Then we flash back two years earlier to 1972. Shortly after that, we flash forward ten years to 1982, where he's campaigning for Congress. So there are three distinct time periods in the story: when Crudup and Connelly first meet and begin their relationship, immediately after she's killed in the explosion, and eight years later when Crudup's on the campaign trail. And the film constantly shifts back and forth among all three. There are so many subtitles ("Two years later", "1972", etc.) you'll think you're watching a foreign film.

At any rate, Waking The Dead follows Crudup's burgeoning political career, played against the background of his relationship with Connelly. There is a mutual attraction the moment they lay eyes on each other. (Ever notice how friendly, beautiful women in the movies are always available at the exact moment the hero walks through the door?) Although he's serving in the Coast Guard at the time they meet, his lifelong goal is to enter politics and make positive change from within the system. She, on the other hand, is a political activist who sees the only hope of improving things coming from circumventing the corrupt establishment. It doesn't help matters that the Vietnam war is in full swing at the time. She says to him,"I hope they don't send you to Vietnam, because you'll be shooting at the people I'm rooting for." Uh oh...

If this isn't sign enough of troubles ahead in the relationship, when he brings up the topic of his political ambition, she scornfully declares, "Ambition is the ice on the water of emotion." Hmmm. Now if I was writing this script, his response would be either "Honey, are you back on the pipe again?", or "Yes, but without ambition you couldn't go ice fishing". Okay, so maybe the second one doesn't work so well. My point is it's a dumb quote to begin with.

In the last timeframe of the three, Crudup begins to think he sees and hears the deceased Connelly on numerous occasions. Unless you were out to the concession stand getting a refill on your mega-tub of popcorn, you'll catch on to the fact that she symbolizes his political idealism nagging at him as he makes more and more compromises to further his way in the world of politics. She's his conscience, get it? Director Keith Gordon couldn't be more obvious about it if he had her say,"I'll be your Jiminy Cricket".

The problem is that the movie devolves into static conflict. While self-doubts about his political career continue to mount, he keeps catching glimpses of her in the street, following her around corners, down allies, etc. only to lose sight of her. This cat-and-mouse game goes on for the better part of two hours, without ever developing further, and viewers' attention begins to wane. And when the ending does come, the offered "resolution" isn't particularly satisfying, nor do Crudup's voice-over comments regarding Connelly make a whole lot of sense in the context of what we've been shown. Plots containing a high level of allegory work best when they also function on the literal level, and this one doesn't.

So ultimately, you leave the theater thinking the movie had an interesting initial premise, but didn't seem to know what to do with it. But I don't necessarily want to discourage you from seeing it. Look at it this way: if this film makes a profit, maybe next time they'll splurge for color film for the publicity stills.