Waking the Dead (2000)

It's 1974. Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) watches a TV report of a bombing in Minneapolis killing his activist love Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly) along with Chilean dissidents. They met two years earlier in NYC. He was in the Coast Guard avoiding the war. She was working for his brother's leftist paper. In 1982 Chicago, Fielding is a county prosecutor recruited to run for Congress. He starts to wonder if Sarah is truly dead.There may be an intriguing romantic political drama somewhere here but the jumping around in time disrupts any flow. The movie is terribly disjointed. Crudup and Connelly could have generated great chemistry but they don't have the consistent screen time together. The tension struggles. There is a nice haunted feel and this definitely has the promise of a compelling story but the jumping around tired me out.

I had never heard of Keith Gordon's Waking The Dead before tonight. After watching it just now, I am emotionally exhausted, and my mind is in overdrive analyzing every perfect piece of this well thought out puzzle, and reeling trying to process and deal with the raw sadness and electric, haunting nature of the mystery that encases the story like a chilling road map of the two main characters emotions. I am so affected by this one that I'm scared I'll screw this review up with my rambling adjectives and poetic mumbling that's become my trademark. There are a lot of films I like, some I love, but it takes a true gem to make it into my pantheon of all time favourites. This made it with one viewing. What can I say. Billy Crudup, who I've never been blown away by (although he's solid in Big Fish) gives an award worthy turn here as Fielding Pierce, an ambitious coast guard operative who climbs the ladder of politics and aspires to be a congressman. He is concise, democratic, and has a by the numbers view of the world. He meets Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly), who couldn't be more different than him. She's an activist, focused on helping the world one rally, one church, one ounce of compassion at a time, as opposed to institution and organized parties. Despite these differences, they fall deeply, hopelessly, eternally in love. Connelly is a touching wonder as Sarah, expelling warmth and fiery concern with her performance. The two of them together make the most convincing on screen couple I've seen in a while, and I couldn't take my eyes off any scene with them. Now.. the film's opening scene is Fielding watching a news report of her death, a car bombing in Chile. It then time jumps between scenes of their budding relationship in the 70's, to Fielding in the early 80's, on a career upswing. Only problem, he suddenly begins to be haunted by waking visions of Sarah, her voice in his head, her figure in the streets calling to him, memories of her flooding his perception and causing him to see her everywhere. Is she still alive somewhere? Is he losing it? The film makes a very brave choice and decides never to give us one answer, even at the end. Crudup owns the part, especially in the scenes with Connolly, they are absolutely sensational together. The script goes from intriguing mystery to thoughtful treatise on how we may lose what we love and want, but that it may be in service of what we are meant for. Hard stuff for anyone with a heart to swallow, and indeed some scenes later had me just drowning in tears, but a theme that I can't say will leave my consciousness soon. Hal Holbrook is there as Pierce's mentor, Janet Mcteer as his no nonsense sister, Stanley Anderson is touching as his father, and Paul Hipp agonizing in one particular scene as his black sheep brother. The film entrances from beginning to end. The soundtrack is perfect, with contributions from Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel fitting the ethereal tone, and an incredulous original score. The atmosphere captures Fielding's confusion and heartbreak sensationally, and some camera work from expert cinematographer Tom Richmond provides some shots that look like they're out of a dream, specifically a scene in a subway tunnel where he sees her everywhere. The story flows perfectly with the beautiful music, aching romance and otherworldly mystery to weave a flowing tapestry of pure creation. I'm always amazed when all the elements of a piece flow harmoniously together. How this was not one one most talked about film of 2000 just kills me. I can't say how it will affect you, but it left me sitting on the couch in awe of what I had just seen, on the verge of breaking down, devastated by what Had just unfolded. Maybe you'll get that out of it too. Maybe not. Just don't come to me later and say you couldn't enjoy it as much as you wanted to because I hyped it up too much. I hate when people do that, and you know who you are. Nevertheless, this film.. Deep, ponderous, an old school tearjerker, without pandering melodrama, it gives a purpose to its two star crossed lovers, and the fact that they're so removed from one another in their respective lives and outlooks only adds to the captivating nature of their unbroken love. I'll stop gushing..for now.

CAUTION: SPOILERSThis movie had me in tears just about every 2 minutes at least. While a young man maps out his ambitions for the future, he meets a woman who sees the world with eyes that are similar to his, but a bit more outspoken. They fall in love, and would be the perfect couple if not for their conflicting political views and family traditions. While Fielding (a beautiful Kleenex-box devouring performance by Billy Crudup) works for the Coast Guard and then thru law school, Sarah (an equally wonderful Jennifer Connelly) is an independent Peace-Corps worker of sorts, working for the Catholic church in different and dangerous situations that take her far from home into hotbeds of political strife. Fielding's life is shattered when Sarah and 2 Chilean diplomats are killed in a car bomb in 1973. For the next decade, he tries to move on without her, and presses on until he becomes a candidate for public office. Suddenly, he begins to...hallucinate? Dream? Have visions? of the woman he loved. He begins to believe he is losing his mind, and it affects his campaign. The one thing that confuses me and kind of pees me off is when Sarah suddenly seems to reappear for real, first via phone call and second, with a surprise visit. She apologizes for hurting him, and if what she's saying is true, she really did nearly kill him by faking her death. Did she fake her death because of the Chilean Resistance? Or did she want out of the relationship because though they love each other, their beliefs and politics don't match. Fielding wakes up the morning after this cryptic 'visit' and wonders if even this was a reverie. But somehow, the fact that he never has visions or hallucinations of weird phone calls ever again, says to me, Sarah had been alive all these years and had faked her death for one reason or another. I really should watch this again to get a better clarity on exactly what her motives were, but I cried so much that I don't think I can go through this again. The one consolation is that Fielding won the election and began to help make a difference in people's lives. Sarah influenced him in a major way, but I was so sad to see that they couldn't have a life together working side by side.

What more can I say? This quiet, intimate, fast-paced film explores the lives of two people who are made for each other yet whose lives keep them apart. Both characters are forced to grow as they face stereotypes and their own false expectations. And then, when the bombshell hits, get ready to reach for the Kleenex! Unlike many other films that deal with relationships, this one continues the exploration of the questions posed, even after it would seem physically possible. Both characters continue to grow to the very last frame of the film. Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup are both excellent in their roles. Connelly has less screen time but plays her "Jiminy Cricket" role perfectly. Crudup is note-perfect in his slide towards psychosis.This is the ultimate "what if?" film, realistically portraying the agony of loss and unanswered questions. Definitely *not* one to watch when you're in the mood for a fluffy Hugh Grant flick! But for intelligent, thought-provoking movie-making, this is the one to see.