Cinequest 2009
The world premiere of “Wake” was the opening faire that aired to a sold-out, energetic, and enthusiastic crowd Wednesday, February 25. And they were ready for the Cinequest 19 Film Festival to begin – they cheered the opening credits. “Wake” was a good choice. A light, airy, and nicely packaged
“Wake” is a bit off center. Carys Reitman (Bijou Phillips) seeks constant support and advice from her friend Shane (Danny Masterson), the undertaker. Trying to understand her lack of feelings, she attends funerals of people she doesn’t know. Searching for answers, she attends the last rites to a gal and was moved by her fiancé’, Tyler (Ian Somerhalder) closing words. Carys accidently removes jewelry from the dead gal at the viewing and ends up falling for the guy…who also may be the girls killer. Nice twist.
“Wake” is filled with Hollywood star power (including jane Seymour). And as good as the writing and filming and acting were – really top notch – the film is missing a beat. I could not shake the feeling that the film could have been a sitcom season summary, with a lot of unnecessary heavy breathing. I never caught the essence that this was a feature film. That doesn’t mean “Wake” isn’t entertaining. It really is. It is thoughtful. It comes in a nice package. There was just too much, “this can be solved in 30 minutes” feel. My two cents…