Wake – Review (SXSW)

So I split from the Killer Film crew at SXSW and decided to pop my head in a little film called Wake. Its funny that the title is Wake because all I wanted to do was go to sleep. I was hoping for a lot out of this one because at the beginning of the day everyone was a buzz about this flick by Texas native Chad Feehan, but I now realize that it was just hype.

The film starts with its two main characters Paul and Adrienne going to Paul’s frat brother’s wedding in LA. They are driving and start fooling around, and spin out into the desert plains. They decide to stop at a cheap hotel for the night (defiantly seen a porn like that before). Paul leaves the room after getting in an argument with Adrienne and heads to the hotel cafe. He runs into a creepy man who starts asking question about his past and if he has told his girlfriend about it. He freaks out and leaves to his room and nothing but chaos ensues.

This film is one of those flicks that is trying to be artsy for the sake of being artsy. Feehan said before it started that he slipped in things from the shinning because it was his favorite movie growing up. I can tell you it was pretty apparent defiantly when he named the pack of cigarettes in the film “Overlook lights.” As this movie was reaching the end I breathed a sigh of relief. When asked about the movie, Feehan explained what the story really was about and it surely was not apparent to anyone in the audience, or at least this reviewer.

Now not everything about the film was bad. Throughout the film it held a sense of suspense with the score of the picture. The images on the screen were perfectly in sync with the tone of the movie. I will also say this, no I didn’t care for the movie, but this director has a bright future ahead of him. Paul and Adrienne were two of the most believable characters I have seen on a screen in years. It is my personal belief that there is no such thing as bad acting, only bad directing. Chad seems like one of those directors that knows how to draw a performance out of an actor that no one else could have gotten. I salute you for that sir.

At the end of it, the picture was subpar in comparison to the others that I saw at the festival. For Chad I will say this, you did a good job and congrats on making to SXSW. You have a long career ahead of you and I can’t wait to see where your filmmaking goes from here. Good luck and god speed.

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