Waking the Dead (2000)

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Directed by Keith Gordon.

Starring Jennifer Connelly, Janet McTeer, Paul Hipp, Molly Parker, Billy Crudup.

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A man finds his melancholy turning to madness in this thriller. Young lawyer Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) has just thrown his hat in the ring for an upcoming congressional election. He has also been haunted by the memory of his girlfriend Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), who recently died in a car bombing -- and haunted not just figuratively but literally: he's seeing apparitions of Sarah everywhere, and he's starting to wonder if she's really there or if he's going mad. Waking the Dead is based on a novel by Scott Spencer, who also wrote Endless Love, and directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Keith Gordon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

The Came Back review
by leeroy711 in leeroy711 Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"**1/2 stars (out of 5) Directed By: Robin Campillo Starring: Geraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccai and Frederic Pierrot Language: French with English subtitles Synopsis: Without rhyme, reason or warning, the recently deceased residents of a small city in France flood the streets. The government, intellectuals and the families of these returnees have no idea what to do with them. They are temporarily placed in emergency housing and studied until something can be decided. Meanwhile, the returnees are all secretly scheming in dimly lit conference rooms in the middle of the night. Review: This film was billed as the Avant-Garde zombie film for good reason. Dont expect the typical brain-eating mindless monsters of George A. Romero. This film was much more of a supernatural drama in the spirit of Waking The Dead.The pace of this movie is almost painfully slow. Every time it seemed that it would pick up and start to piece the puzzle together, it was dragged down in a very frustrating ... " [More]

Re: Top 5 Tear Jerking Scenes
by Risselada in Top 5

hasn't rated it.

"Two from Keith Gordon eh? I've only seen one film of his. The excellent American adaptation of The Singing Detective and it's one of my absolute favorite films. I guess I should seriously check out his other stuff. Have you seen The Singing Detective? Which other one would you recommend first? " [More]

Re: Top 5 Tear Jerking Scenes
by TheWorkingDead in Top 5

loved it.

"Some of these have already been mentioned, but screw it, these are the five I can think of at the moment(not, possibly, the Top 5).Dancer in the Dark: Many, many moments, as has been pointed out before. Two standouts; the I Have Seen it All song, particularly the line about her hypothetical grandson, and the ending, with her acapella rendition of The New World. An ending that actually made me double over in my theatre seat as I sobbed. I'm getting misty just thinking about it. Breaking The Waves: It might be unfair to have two Von Trier films on here, but the scene towards the end where Emily Watson is heading out to meet the sadistic Udo Kier, and quite possibly mutilation or death. She gives a quick glance at the camera, with a small smile, although she's obviously terrified. That scene brings me to tears, and affects me even more than the heartwrenching ending.Waking The Dead: When Billy Crudup's character finally gets on the phone with someone who may or may not be ... " [More]

Color me...
by luis_fearn in luis_fearn Blog

loved it.

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"Red in itself carries the duality of love and hate, violence and intimacy, and war and compassion.-ruecian A very love it or hate it kind of affair. " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

A film about the lingering legacies of the '60s, Waking the Dead divides its time between the early '70s, when the influence of the activism-oriented counterculture began to wane, and the early '80s, when its influence seemed to have diminished altogether. Though the film occasionally plays as though its dialogue needed another polish, and the abundance of deleted scenes on the DVD version is actually apparent within the film itself, other virtues carry the movie. Both Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly (who turned into a fine actress in the late '90s after too many cheesecake roles) deliver soulful, affecting performances. It's director Keith Gordon's remarkable sense of time and place and the film's sustained melancholy tone, however, that prove the most memorable, using the supernatural to capture an extremely real sense of disillusionment. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide

Tags: activism , grief , candidate , politicalcampaign , ghost
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