The Wave

The Wave turned out to be visually superior and far better in storytelling than most stoner thrillers out there. Justin Long's the perfect choice to play Frank, a white-collar employee who's out for a night of merry-making with his colleague Jeff (Donald Faison). They meet Natalie (Katia Winter) and Theresa (Sheila Vand) at a bar and decide to head to a rave party. A drug he consumes at the party sends him on an unending trip that bends the concept of time (and eventually, decisions). The storyline gets a little convoluted in the latter half with several twists, but the screenplay (by Carl W. Lucas) wraps it up quite neatly in the end.

The 'drug trip' for Frank begins with intermittent hallucinatory episodes, making you think this is yet another film that holds a warning sign for people to never do drugs. However, it focuses more on its psychedelic visuals, a missing-person storyline (I think I'm in love with Sheila Vand!), and some not-bad humor along the way. On the downside, the subplots involving Frank's promotion (the evil insurance company cliché) and his wife walking out on him don't carry the narrative weights they should. These incidents, while pivotal to the main plot (of Frank, Jeff, and Natalie searching for the missing Theresa), somehow feel less consequential.

When you look at the complete picture, I felt The Wave tries to incorporate too much into its 90-minute runtime and succeeds in parts. That said, the amusement factor was certainly on the higher side for me.

I know it's a rough start but it's well done and has a good message. I give up on overly unmoral characters sometimes and maybe I miss out. This movie is something different in an age when things are either bad or more of the same. So enjoy.

The Wave is an interesting film starring Justin Long as a relatively square insurance broker who takes a powerful unknown hallucinogenic and as a result of this, experiences some pretty frightful hallucinations which are deftly portrayed and are intensely believable. However, even though the hallucinations are portrayed as well as you could expect from a B movie, it isn't without its sticking points.

What lets this film down is the execution of the storyline. While the overarching plot of the film is a relatively coherent one, the film muddily flits from one aspect of the story to the other, never making the film quite as believable as it could or should have been. The Wave allows too many loose ends, and the ending instead of completing the plot asks more questions than answers. Overall this is a decent film with some intense and intriguing scenes, however the execution of these themes lets the film down.

A young corporate attorney who specializes in cutting people out of insurance payouts finds a case that will save his company a lot of money. He has to present his idea the next morning, so his friend talks him into going out on a bender to celebrate the night before.

What begins to unwind is a nonlinear time jump adventure from what seems to be reality to full blown "Bardo" style hallucinations.

Well done in that it's not predictable, and doesn't explain everything: you get to figure it out for yourself.

Some super intense scenes, so not a movie for the faint of heart.

Also, a fantastic performance by Justin!

This could obviously be made into a Hollywood big "blockbuster" with millions into CGI, big name, expensive actors, etc. But nope, this movie came with an 8 mil dollar budget. It's got great acting, good cgi, and more importantly, heart and humanity. Everything a good film needs to succeed. Hollywood wonders why it struggles, well take notes.

A very good watch.

* * * My only wish is that they spent about 10-15 more minutes developing on screen an even MORE "loving" relationship between the family involved so the emotion hits even harder. But that's just me being picky.