Rating: 
Summary: Crudup at his absolute best
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: "Waking the Dead" is a vicious attack on the United States
Review: Rarely does one find a film that is so intensely hostile towards American values. Jennifer Connelly brilliantly portrays the young radical Leftist, Sarah Williams, who has nothing but contempt for the United States. She meets her soul mate Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) and proceeds to guilt trip him into also sharing her political beliefs. How anti-American is Sarah? In one scene she tells Fielding that she hopes he does not go to Vietnam because she supports the North Vietnamese Communists! Sarah perceives America as the beginning and end of most evil in the world. Fielding is ironically committed to becoming the President of the United States. There is much friction between the two lovers because Fielding sees the importance of compromise. Sarah, however, will settle for nothing less than absolutist ideological purity. "Waking the Dead" flash backs from the early 1980s to the early 1970s. The lovers meet and eventually Sarah gets involved with a very Left wing religious group who is bringing into the country a couple escaping from Chile. All three are supposedly murdered in a car bomb explosion. But is Sarah really dead? Were the
authorities truly able to identify her body after the blast? Fielding is not sure whether he is losing his mind. He is running for the U.S. Congress and constantly imagines hearing Sarah's voice and seeing her on the street. Fielding is involved with Juliet (Molly Parker) who is the niece of his political mentor, Issac. Juliet is sexually available and she might make an appropriate wife for an aspiring politician. But will she be able to compete against the memory of the missing Sarah? The story line becomes very convoluted at this point. One's patience is severely tested for the rest of the film. Should anyone make a point to see "Waking the Dead?" The answer is in the affirmative if you wish to observe Jennifer Connelly at her best. She is truly a remarkable actress and it is easy to understand why Connelly was later picked to star in the very recent "A Beautiful Mind." Connelly brings a presence to the screen that is almost always riveting and unforgettable. That alone might be a valid reason for adding "Waking the Dead" to your collection. Does Director Keith Gorton actually believe that America is such a despicable nation? If so, I will have to remind myself to ignore his future movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Even men can cry....
Review: I ordered this DVD today...less than 12 hours after I saw it on cable early this morning. If you have ever been in love with that "one" you feel is your soulmate...if you have ever looked into the eyes of your woman and said (out loud or inside) "You are the love of my life!"...this is the romantic film for you. Yes...I am a male...a MAN who found his soulmate...and to this day...though she is not always here for me when I need her most...will never be the same without her...my heart pounded as I watched this film. There were moments when I felt I should turn it off, because the pain of the past was so explicitely outlined in many scenes. Jenniffer Connelly portrayed the soulmate in my life, and her performance is of Academy consideration. Where was this film hiding out? I stumbled across it while flipping channels. BOTTOM LINE: If you've ever been deeply in love...and till this day, have never found another...this is the flick for you. Yes...men cry. If you don't, you've never found the LOVE OF YOUR LIFE!
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and beautiful
Review: This is a rare film powered by its incredible imagery that is heart-breaking and beautiful at the same time. Once you begin to become immersed in Fieldings mental wanderings between the past and present, it doesn't let you go. From the beginning to the end, the story of the ill-fated romance between an aspiring politician and an activist is gripping and passionate. Fielding and Sarah are in love even though their ideals are often conflicting. Yet, these are the things he loves about her as well. This film flashes to various incidents between the couple before she is killed. After this, Fielding tries to get over the sudden loss of Sarah and its this that drives the film until its powerful conclusion. Its not only a romance but a search for a man's soul as he begins to try to get himself together in the face of his angst over a loss that occurred ten years before but that had never stopped haunting him. His love for this woman has made it impossible for him to love anyone else and even as Fielding finally arrives as a popular politician, he begins to lose it when he starts to catch glimpses of Sarah everywhere he goes. Is this a figment of the imagination, insanity or something more? Watch this incredible film to find out. This is some of the best acting I've seen in years. A powerful, haunting film that is unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: Waking the Dead follows the life of Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) both before and after the death of his girlfriend of two years, Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly). The contrast between the before and after is done very well. This movie could have very easily been cheesy, but Keith Gordon did a very good job at keeping things real. Nothing was over the top. He makes the viewer think for themselves. He let the performances speak for themselves.
The love between these two is so simple and beautiful. Connelly and Crudup are SO good that you feel you are watching a REAL relationship. They do such a great job of creating real people. People that I would want to get to know.
Both are on a mission to do their part in making the world a little better. After Sarah dies Fielding is lost. He no longer has that drive, and he aimlessly crawls twards his goals. Billy Crudup does some amazing acting. He really shows the confusion and anguish of Fielding very well. You are inside his mind, right long side him in his journey. He makes your heart twist and turn in your chest.
Jennifer Connelly does some of her greatest acting here. Bits and pieces of her dialogue that were taken from the book make me cringe a little (I guess because it was written by a man) but she delivers it so that you actualy believe someone would say those things. Sarah is a bit of a mystery because the story is pretty much told from Fieldings point of view. There are no scenes with just her. I want to kow what is going on inside of her head.
The DVD has really great extras. It has a good commentary track by director Kith Gordon. He said things that I actually wanted to hear. Another great thing in the bomus features is the 45 minutees of the deleted scenes. They are full scenes that had to be taken out of the film for time. In most movies there is a reason deleted scenes are deleted, but the deleted scenes on this DVD really give further insight into the characters. Also, it fills in some great things that were in the book but were left out in the finished movie. These scenes really answer some questions. I want to know everything there is to know about these two people. The movie was just as good, if not better than the book, and that is a rare thing. It is a shame that not many people have seen this movie. They are really missing out on an experience that will stay with them forver. I still get chills sometimes when I think about this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Haunted By Love
Review: Waking the Dead is about Fielding Pierce who is about to become a congressman, but soon we discover he is haunted by his reportedly dead lover Sarah a former political activist. This film comes at you like a stark and haunted love story. Kieth Gordon the director flashes back and forth showing us that this wasn't always a perfect union between the two, yet they were bound together even though their political and social beliefs were as opposed as the North and South Pole. In Fielding's life post Sarah we see him as a shadow of the man he formerly was, who begins to see Sarah everywhere. This slowly wears at the fabric of his sanity. He isn't sure if he is being haunted by her ghost or if she had gone into hiding. The amazing thing about the film is it touches on some of the real concepts of love. How you can care about a person even though they drive you insane at times. The scene between Fielding and Sarah on the subway train going home is probably the best in the film, it is very natural and speaks with a true and meaningful heart. Waking the Dead reminds us all of that one love we had that we weren't meant to hang on to. Painful and beautiful, it is an experience worth having, one that will form who we are and who we will eventually become.
Rating: 
Summary: You Have Got To Be Kidding Me
Review: I can honestly say that this is one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. It is so bad that it's funny.
Rating:
Summary: Love doesn't end...
Review: 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 WÝTHOUT 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!!
Rating:
Summary: Waking the Dead
Review: This movie will touch something really deep in everyone. You will think of that one true love you have had in your life and almost relive it again. After I saw this movie I could not get it out of my head. I was trying to figure out what really happened and ended up buying it and watching it again. This is just one of many great movies featuring Jennifer Connelly. Talk about an amazing actor. 5 stars, 10 thumbs up from my friends that watched it with me.
Rating:
Summary: The waking dead
Review: The movie,the actors,the script and particularly the direction are as lifeless and wooden as any movie I have ever seen. Crudup's performance is either an all-out emoting chewing-the-scene kind of display or a sullen male model pout with nothing in between. The other members of the cast and crew don't fare much better but then with a cliche ridden script filled with platitudes false emotions and pseudo left-wing jargon, its hard to place too much fault on them aside from their decision to be in the film to begin with. No, the brunt of the blame for this pretentious claptrap should fall squarely on Keith Gordon from the clumsy flashbacks to the forced rabbit-kissing loves scenes to the absurd close-ups of Billy Crudup looking like he's rehearsing in the Actor's Studio trying to wake the dead lines that have been forced on him.
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