There are only a handful of films that have evoked a WOW!! Reaction out of me and Waking Life is on that short list. It is a stunning experience for both the eyes and mind. Apart from two scenes it is a very positive film, which makes those two scenes out of place. The rotoscoped animation varies from sequence to sequence and some might find it (especially if they have issues with motion sickness) a little uneasy to watch. I was more absorbed in the topics of conversation and ideas that are rich throughout the film. Some may find the lack of a linear story or any sort of resolution a little frustrating but I think it would have diminished the film greatly if anything was explained. It is only tainted by the appearance of Alex Jones, yep, that Alex Jones. At the time of seeing in 2001 I had no idea who he was. Years later I was watching it and now the voice was very familiar. I read the credits and confirmed that it was him. This is my favourite sequence. In it he plays a variation of the "character" we've come to know on his show but here there is hopeful nature to his rantings. Despite this Waking Life is still a film that ignites my imagination. On the d DVD copy it has a feature which text appears on the screen when they characters are talking about a book or specific philosopher. I hope the Criterion Collection releases a blu-ray version.

Waking Life is almost like a compilation of short films as opposed to one complete full length feature. But then the film insists repeatedly that there is a logic to it, dream logic. This, however, could even be circumspect. It's really a unique blend of philosophical monologue &/or soliloquy &/or dialogs, a mix of 'isms' (asburdism, surrealism chiefly, even magical realism in tiny spots), and if there were any film of the past ten years that I might offer up as a recommendation to Godard, it might be this. Richard Linklater also serves up his kind of sequel to his first film, Slacker, which was about as free-form and experimental and questioning and thinking about the ways of life as any given group of college kids (the bright ones I mean) might have on a bright day. It's ironic though after seeing the film to think that this is even considered a 'stoner movie'. The color scheme, developed by Bob Sabiston (who would also head A Scanner Darkly, another Linklater film), is about as wild and perfunctory for the kind of mood that Linklater could get. Wily Wiggins, after getting hit by a car, drifts in and out of dreams- constantly dreaming one could only possibly think to guess- as people come forward in Austin Texas to put forward views on life. But will this state of constant dreaming (sometimes 'lucid' sometimes not) continue?

This is the thread that hangs all of the film together like a true-blue stream-of-consciousness clothesline that would appeal to stoners, I think, and at one point I did even consider being high for the duration of the picture. I was more glad to be sober for it all though, because as I write this I wonder if I could even grasp everything- or maybe need to again- on a 2nd full viewing. So much still sparks off in my head of things I connected with by what the characters talked about to Wiley (chiefly things regarding existentialism and Sartre, free-will, how dreams can affect how we perceive things in the 'real' life, and the ideas concerning cinema itself and Bazin). While once or twice it came close to becoming almost TOO much of a eye-grabbing and mind-churning thing that once or twice it's more of a random 'essay' than really a good scene. But like with Slacker, there's also the occasional jab of fine humor from Linklater, like the ape working the projector reading off paper, or the guy who reappears as a convenience store clerk. Towards the end, as Linklater himself appears on camera and has maybe the longest talk of all, Waking Life becomes all the more clear and revelatory.

This is really, when it comes down to it, an independent production with a real independent thought process to it. Linklater, with Sabiston as something like his best kind of collaborator, guides us through all of this to see what's so wonderful, strange, horrifying, incendiary, crude, and worthwhile about what it is to try and live one's life, but also in seeing it through the perspective of the un-reality of a reality of some kind of other dream state. Or something of that nature. At any rate, it wont be everyone's cup of tea, and if you do decide to make it as such a stoner movie be ready to take in everything that's being said along with the crazy animation. While I might take Linklater's Scanner Darkly just slightly over this one (due to the animation for that being better in its control and working much better with a much more sustained subject matter), Waking Life still holds its own as one of his most ambitious projects that ends up going one step further than Slacker. He's working at full-speed with the faculties of experience, intelligence, questioning (and maybe not always, appropriately, with answers), and ultimately creativity. And that musical accompaniment is one of the finest in years.

It is rare for a director to return to a film and improve it but Linklater does it here. Taking the general form of Slackers, he adds a metaphysical story line and coats it with extraordinary eye candy.

The rotoscoping really provides an acid trip experience of constantly shifting planes with backgrounds going one way and characters going the other.

The string quartet tango score also is an excellent use of music to reinforce the exotic aspects of the production.

The monologues are thought provoking and compelling. The story line examining dream/death connection is novel. Score points for originality of story, art direction and narrative line. Some quite funny parts (e.g. boat car, bar shoot out, etc.), some creepy parts (e.g. jailbird rant, second boat man meeting, etc.).

I have seen this several times and enjoyed it every time. Farily rare is the movie that can really stand up to multiple viewings. This is one.

Very refreshing. See it.