Waking

I came into the theatre not having any prior knowledge of what Waking was about, other than hearing it was a romantic comedy. That genre usually sends me running for the door but this one was a pleasant surprise. The writing is smart and funny, the acting & directing is honest and believable. There are the usual rom-com elements but it's all unveiled through a very unique perspective, reminiscent of some of Spike Jonze's work. Tackling issues like abandonment, the futility of finding true love, and childhood expectations, you'd think it would be somewhat depressing but I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable film from start to finish.

The film was based around a very unique and exciting storyline which encouraged you to think beyond the normal boundaries of reality and imagine the impossible.

This is the idea that you can meet people in your dreams.

The concept of your sole mate being out there somewhere whether that is in your dreams or beyond is very endearing.

The fact that the individuals met when he already had a fiancée added an extra moral standing to the film.

The film is well wrote and directed.

Well worth a watch!!

I caught this film at the Phoenix Film Festival and really, REALLY loved the idea. What you would do if you met a person in real life and then kept having dreams about them and they were having the same dream about you. The idea of carrying on this whole other life with someone while you're asleep, night after night. It's all at once intriguing, fun, scary, sad and complicated. And "Waking" does a great job of capturing all those feelings of this amazing what-if experience. The film looks beautiful and all the actors do a really wonderful job. And as a "Daly Show" fan, it was nice to see Tim and Sam Daly pop up in there. :) Definitely a recommend.

Like a lot of good idea movies, Waking starts with too much exposition. After some requisite over-explaining the story gathers and we are in their world of fantasy longing. It's a well made film by talented well-meaning people. Naive, yes but they wear it on their sleeve. The premise is that a young man at life's crossroads is "haunted" by a girl he meets once. The question he and we ask is, " is she real?". And, if so, "is she going thru the same thing?" Like a set-piece in the story itself, the film is a long walk to it's natural and charming destination but in some places it feels like it has "hitched a ride" on convention and forces it's semi-preposterous nature to be judged by an audience that was willing to let it slide because, after all, we want to believe!

This kind of film can be much more visual and less talky: see "Upstream Color." This is a kind film made by kind and talented people. If it presented it's story in a more shaded and withheld way, it may have made for an interesting release. As it is, it is a fine first film and kudos for the Actor/Producers for seeing it thru.

It's a tough market out there, for indie films that are meant to be feel-goods. In the right hands, it deserves a run on Cable. Reviewed at Dances With Films, 2013, Hollywood.

The movie is nowhere near a 10/10 perfect movie. A 5 or 6 sounds much more correct. Overall, the movie is so-so. It has an interesting concept, but with no real fleshing out of the idea, it stays as only an interesting concept and never makes the leap to interesting product. The pacing is really slow, the scenes are repetitive and monotonous, and the acting is subpar even for an indie movie. I give the guy credit for trying, he clearly has the drive. What he doesn't have is the skill to pull off a low budget sci-fi movie. Nothing unexpected happens here, you could call out the entire movie's story based solely on the plot description. Needless to say the ending happens, and it is VERY underwhelming. You're left thinking, that's it? I wanted to like it more, low budget cerebral sci-fi can be my faves (primer or donnie darko for example) This however missed the mark, and needed some more time put into the writing to really figure out what to do with this plot. As it is now, they had no idea where to take it. And it really shows. Worth seeing if you're a big fan of the genre, otherwise just skip it...