Waking Life Movie Review

Starring: Wiley Wiggins, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

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Review Summary

An unnamed protagonist, voiced by Wiley Wiggins but "bodied" by writer/director Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise), wanders through the city, listening to various people propound their theories about dreams, reality, evolution. He keeps waking up from beautiful or threatening experiences (being hit by a car, a shootout at a bar, conversations with beautiful girls and crazies), only to find he is probably still asleep ... maybe even dead. That "Waking Life" is only 99 minutes is a blessing, because it's a visual and textual banquet: originally shot live action on digital stock, it was turned over to a team of more than 30 animators under the direction of Bob Sabiston, who "painted over" the action to make a fully animated feature. The images of floating and shimmering furniture and street scenes, the endless speeches about reality and fantasy, begin to overload the viewer's senses, and one is either overwhelmed or swept along, just as the protagonist decides whether to float away or keep clinging to a car door latch. If it hits you right, the whole world will look different when you walk away from this film. Special mention should be made of the tango-style soundtrack, alternately soothing and edgy, composed by Glover Gill and performed by a string and accordion septet(?).
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Waking Life

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?** - fantasy story on present day Earth
Technology/$$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - Info about lifeform(s)/phenomena
If a cartoon... - animated cartoon

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Events of movie makes character more... - introspective
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor? - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Sense of humor? - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average Intelligence
Physical condition - average physique
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century (1970's to Present)
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Big cities? Yes
In virtual reality? Yes

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Comedy or somewhat funny movie? Yes
Any profanity? - Some foul language
Kinds of F/X - Things that change shape/morph

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