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(?).
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
