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Waking the Dead

Play trailer Poster for Waking the Dead R Released Mar 24, 2000 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) has long been on the road to political candidacy. After the Coast Guard, he enrolls in law school and meets firebrand activist Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly). Taken by her passion and beauty, Fielding pursues her. But their romance is cut short when she is killed doing aid work in Chile. Nearly a decade later, Fielding is closer than ever to his political dreams, but he is haunted by visions, and by a growing feeling that Sarah is alive.
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Waking the Dead

Critics Reviews

View All (56) Critics Reviews
Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Rated: C Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle You can embrace this movie's message, which has less to do with political agendas than basic human decency and the enduring power of love. And if that's not enough to make a film worthwhile, we don't know what is. Rated: A- Jul 21, 2005 Full Review Stephen Holden New York Times Painfully earnest. May 20, 2003 Full Review Scott Nash Three Movie Buffs Crudup and Connelly outperform the material. Rated: 3/4 Aug 23, 2010 Full Review Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion Waking the Dead is D.O.A., and none of its manifest good intentions are capable of resuscitating it. Rated: D Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 2/5 Sep 27, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D Never comes together thanks to a weak script and copout ending. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review IMRAN M sometime it looks as we are seeing Sex movie Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member A beautiful and underrated movie! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly are lovers and ideological antagonists in this haunting romantic drama that was vastly overlooked by audiences and critics. Crudup is a political idealist and opportunist driven to run for Congress; Connelly is an outspoken social activist killed by a car bomb. Connelly's death haunts Crudup years later - he can't let go of her and has hallucinations that she's still alive. (Thankfully, it's never spelled out whether or not the hallucinations are real.) This is an intelligent, emotional modern romance that makes us understand how two people with different political beliefs can still be in love. Crudup and Connelly are both superb in career best performances. Connelly is so smart and beautiful and passionate it's easy to see why Crudup would go a bit crazy. There is a wonderful scene where Crudup has a nervous breakdown at a restaurant with his family, following an election, which is heartbreaking. At times, the use of flashbacks muddles the temporal sequence but never in detriment. Written by Robert Dillon, based on the book by Scott Spencer. Directed by Keith Gordon. With Hal Holbrook, Janet McTeer, Paul Hipp, Molly Parker, Sandra Oh, and Ed Harris. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member very under rated. Billy Crudup is amazing in this film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Frances H A beautiful film and a beautiful love story. It really moved me. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/01/14 Full Review Read all reviews
Waking the Dead

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Waking the Dead

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Movie Info

Synopsis Fielding Pierce (Billy Crudup) has long been on the road to political candidacy. After the Coast Guard, he enrolls in law school and meets firebrand activist Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly). Taken by her passion and beauty, Fielding pursues her. But their romance is cut short when she is killed doing aid work in Chile. Nearly a decade later, Fielding is closer than ever to his political dreams, but he is haunted by visions, and by a growing feeling that Sarah is alive.
Director
Keith Gordon
Producer
Keith Gordon, Stuart Kleinman, Linda Reisman
Screenwriter
Robert Dillon, Keith Gordon, Scott Spencer
Distributor
USA Films
Production Co
Gramercy Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Egg Pictures
Rating
R (Sexuality|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 24, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$327.4K
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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