I'll admit it--I'm a film buff, a nerd even. The type who arrives at least 10 minutes before the movie starts and shushes the thoughtless few who dare whisper during the film. But when the guy behind me started snoring loudly at a showing of Waking Life, Richard Linklater's visually stunning but fatally flawed new film, I couldn't help but second his sentiment.
That's not to say Waking Life is a failure, not at all; at times, it achieves a near brilliant mix of visual innovation, wry humor and deep thought rarely seen in any medium, particularly American cinema. Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between, leaving much of the 97 minutes to feel like an endless reel of bizarre conversations about perception, existentialism and the state of dreaming between an incessant parade of unnamed persons whom I hesitate to call "characters," because of a sheer lack of background information or personality development.
Waking Life, written and directed by Linklater, is clearly one of the same sort that won him acclaim with his earlier films, including the cult favorites Dazed and Confused and SubUrbia--an enormous slew of characters spend a few hours displaying the ennui of their mid-20s by meandering around, casually interacting with one another and spouting self-righteous prophecies about their own existences. But where those earlier films featured memorable characters, Waking Life substitutes plot and character development for artistic expression.
And indeed, much has been said of the brilliant technological and creative achievements as the reality captured on digital film during shooting is breathtakingly transformed into a highly advanced animated landscape filled with intense colors and a constantly changing art style. Creatively light years away from the child-oriented Disney cartoons, Linklater has ingeniously found the perfect match for his spacey script about delusion and dreams in the constantly rippling and evolving world of animated art.
At the core of this intriguingly unsuccessful art-class wet dream is an unnamed protagonist voiced by Wiley Wiggins who experiences what seems to be one peculiar dream upon another as he encounters a wide variety of personalities and theories, circling around itself as it adds depth and layers to what ultimately confuses and disorients more than it sparks discussion. Along for the ride are many Linklater regulars, including Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who recreate roles established in earlier films, and a cameo by director Steven Soderbergh.
Many have argued in favor of viewing Waking Life after the use of drugs, and perhaps that would increase patience and interest in the seemingly endless movie, giving some sort of deeper intelligence or meaning. But even with a fairly clear and logical mind, it's easy to seep into a sort of casual mindset, letting go of any desire to keep track of who says what, and concentrating more on the impressive art dissolving and transforming on screen, occasionally appreciating a fragment of sharp wit and allowing the rest of the film to gradually wash over you.
