Rating: 
Summary: Superb performances, direction in this haunting love story
Review: 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 principle 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 move 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 deserve 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb, but as usual, less than the book it was based upon
Review: 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. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking . . .
Review: i find resonance with this movie. let's put politics aside. i find this movie beautifully and powerfully acted by both jennifer connelly and billy crudup. their pain and their happiness is a wave of emotion seldom seen on the screen anymore. i was truly taken and i cannot say that about many movies i have seen in my life. i rented it on a whim because i never had heard of it before. i am so lucky that i did. i find it a solid and sultry breath of thick air- life invigorating- an idealists and realists movie balancing on a fulcrum of believability. its two hours of antidote in a world sick with cynicism.
Rating:
Summary: "Words support like bone"
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and heart wrenching, Crudup is incredible
Review: Billy Crudup (Big Fish) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) give, in my opinion, the best performances of their careers in this surprisingly haunting, powerful, and heart wrenching film. Waking the Dead tells the story of Fielding Pierce (Crudup), a congress hopeful who years earlier lost his true love Sarah (Conelly) in Chile. Throughout the entirity of the movie, the film flashes back and fourth in time as we see how the two meet, fall in love, and long for each other, until the tragedy which changes Fielding forever. Crudup is incredible, words alone can't describe how good this guy is in this role. After watching this for the first time, I can honestly say that he was robbed out of even an Oscar nomination. The way the film shifts back and fourth through time could have led to disastrous results, but it is handled exceptionally well by director Keith Gordon who pulls exceptional performances from the two leads. All in all, consider Waking the Dead a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: It resonates in the memory, but falls shy of its mark
Review: What an ambitious confluence of love, loss, devotion, idealism, insanity, and remembrance. Billy Crudup plays the political aspirant Fielding Pierce, and he brings to light yet another screen character with the radiance of a solar flare. Jennifer Connelly is something more rare, perhaps, more valuable--she seems to portray in the activist Sarah Williams the perfect human being. Yet an impenetrable fabric is drawn between these two lovers, the form of which is raised by Sarah's violent death while engaging in political unrest in Chile. Yet the intensity of Fielding's longing, or the strength of Sarah's soul, appears to have the power to resurrect her, as she begins to appear to Fielding in haunting glimpses. Wonderfully, this film takes for granted that love can transcend even death as simply and easily as a person can breathe. What a disappointment then that the center of this piece is so unsatisfyingly jumbled. Supporting characters are revealed to be flimsy characters callously used as mere props who have no life of their own but are used strictly to advance each scene to its conclusion. Most notoriously, the fine Sandra Oh is tragically miscast in a downright offensive turn as a half-intelligible prostitute. The story seems to dwell interminably on Crudup's Fielding in the throes of struggle to hold fast to his thread of lucidity as his political career verges towards its culmination in his race for a Congressial seat, even as his inner world is crumbling further with each passing minute. Can he keep his agony in check? The answer to this concern seems to fade to meaninglessness as he stumbles along the campaign trail, abusing his chances at office and his relationships with those still remaining in the land of the living. Perhaps this movie loses its center of gravity because director Keith Gordon and writer Robert Dillon craft a world that, although admirably fixated on the emotional life and consciousness shared by the two stars, does not care enough about the rest of the world for it to serve the story as a stabilizing platform when the lovers' connection is shattered. An unworthy medium for a performance by Crudup to stand with that of FH in Jesus' Son, and what is possibly Connelly's best work. Nonetheless credit is due this film for attempting something so wonderfully strange; it's sentiment and, most of all, its imagination and invention, must return to the screen in these days of lost heart and cynical eyes, now, more than ever.
Rating:
Summary: Waking, indeed.
Review: Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup are great actors. Both understand the power of subtlety and transforming a moment into something more, not just with words but with eyes, and intensity.
This movie does disservice to all of their skills but then again because of just how good they are both rise about the material.
The editing is choppy and sometimes Keith Gordon, the director, seems to lose focus of what kind of film he is making tonally, that is. When he allows the leads to sit there and talk on the train after a disastrous outing the magic these actors possess becomes tangible, just absolutely great.
This is a grown up romance that is portrayed and certainly more political and feiry than most, but it leaves a lot of questions to answered by the audience and that's rare.
The extras on this thing are awesome. The movie is worth watching but the extras really do great things for this movie. The deleted scenes are actually deleted story lines so if you watch this movie then quickly go to these scenes you get a whole new movie. There is a directors commentary that is actually informative not only as to the making of the movie but also the actors themselves. Most of the scenes, the really good ones, it turns out, are improvised. Good stuff. Good stuff.
Check this movie out and add it to your collection. If you love Jennifer Connelly this is your movie. If you love Billy Crudup this is your movie. If you love romance this is your movie. If you think the title means that this is a scary movie than, well you haven't been following along and this is indeed not your movie.
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