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IMDb > Waking the Dead (2000)
Waking the Dead
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Waking the Dead (2000) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 14 | slideshow) Videos (see all 3)
Waking the Dead (2000) -- When one man's 70's idealism confronts his 80's aspirations, he begins an emotional roller coaster that brings ghosts back to life and asks the ultimate question: Does love conquer all, even death?
Waking the Dead (2000) -- A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.
Waking the Dead (2000) -- A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.

Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   3,670 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 46% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Keith Gordon
Writers (WGA):
Scott Spencer (novel)
Robert Dillon (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Waking the Dead on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 March 2000 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
Sometimes love has a life of its own.
Plot:
A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Martina Cole drama finishes with 608,000
 (From digitalspy. 2 July 2009, 3:02 AM, PDT)

'CSI: Miami' makes record-breaking return
 (From digitalspy. 1 July 2009, 4:12 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Politics Vs. Activism more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Billy Crudup ... Fielding Pierce

Jennifer Connelly ... Sarah Williams

Molly Parker ... Juliet Beck

Janet McTeer ... Caroline Pierce
Paul Hipp ... Danny Pierce

Sandra Oh ... Kim
Hal Holbrook ... Isaac Green

Nelson Landrieu ... Francisco Higgens

Ivonne Coll ... Gisela Higgens
Lawrence Dane ... Governor Kinosis

Ed Harris ... Jerry Charmichael
Larry Marshall ... Angelo Bertelli

Stanley Anderson ... Fielding's Father
Patricia Gage ... Fielding's Mother

John Carroll Lynch ... Father Mileski
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for sexuality and language.
Runtime:
105 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Filming Locations:
Montréal, Québec, Canada
Company:
Egg Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Jennifer Connelly's son, Kai was in the film, she was holding him in the scene in which Fielding was at the church. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: During an argument in his new apartment, Fielding's (Billy Crudup) new girlfriend calls him "Billy". more
Quotes:
Fielding Pierce: The thing about Harvard for somebody from the working class like us - we come from a working class background - is a terrible sense of isolation, of aloneness there. more
Movie Connections:
References Obsession (1976) more
Soundtrack:
Mercy Street more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful:-
Politics Vs. Activism, 16 July 2004
7/10
Author: Ryan Ellis from Toronto, Canada

You'll have to choose sides in 'Waking The Dead'. Are you going to be an obedient politician or a liberal activist? Those opposing viewpoints cause a tug-of-war, with eternal love playing the ever-tightening knot in the middle. Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly are Fielding and Sarah; he the idealistic politician and she the faithful revolutionary. We know from the start that she dies via car bomb while raging against the machine. The movie's chronology is all over the place (which is occasionally confusing) and we see them when they're blissfully happy and otherwise. But after she's gone, the upstanding young man fears for his marbles after he starts to see & hear his dead lover everywhere. Is she actually alive or is he just too insane for public office?

Seeing ghosts is tricky. It can turn into unintentional humour without the proper direction. Director Keith Gordon doesn't pull it off as well as he should, but at least the heat between them seems real. Crudup and Connelly make a great romantic match. She's sandpaper to his block of wood, but she's also his conscience. The phrase "Jiminy Cricket" is actually used, and he succeeds politically only as he's failing emotionally. He clearly needs her whispering in his ear, even if he wouldn't agree with what she would have to say. It's clear that she wouldn't approve of what he's become and he knows it. So I guess that makes her the ghost of Jiminy Cricket too.

The movie would be a turd without strong performances. While no one in the supporting cast has lingered in my memory, the talented leads have. They're both good in almost everything they do, so I expected them to be an excellent duo here too. Connelly has since won an Oscar and Crudup probably will too. Some of Gordon's directorial choices undercut what his actors are doing. His style of editing and use of too many arty shots don't work. When the actors are already front row centre, the director should get out of their way.

What grabbed me about 'Waking The Dead' was that both Fielding and Sarah are trying to make the world a better giant rock. She's counterculture and he's as mainstream as it gets. Since the story boils down to politics versus religion, it's no wonder the film didn't find an audience. Most people have opinions on those matters, yet political correctness demands you not share them. But you ARE allowed to discuss love. The movie knows how to get that right...the ache, the irritation, the yearning, and the loss of true love.

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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Waking the Dead (2000)
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Why The Ghost Interpretation of The Ending Is The Best manofaiki2003
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Was it really Sarah at the end? anawesomemoviefanatic
'Ambition is the ice on the lake of emotion.' holloman
6.6???!!! eclarkdog
I want to start an argument floatingweeds2000
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