Wake

Brilliant feels inadequate to describe this film. It is beautifully filmed, superbly edited, and amazingly acted.

Basically, it's a film focusing on four brothers, with a shared history of alcoholism and abuse, inflicted upon them, and by them, and their unexpected coming together for a night of celebration, freedom, and finality, that quickly turns on it's heel. Gale Harold and Blake Gibbons will take your breathe away. As raw and intense as it is, there is still plenty of humor, though at first, you'll be hesitant to laugh, but do, because there is plenty to laugh at. When Jack says "what's the difference between pink and purple? The grip!" It really is okay to exhale, and laugh.... It's a real film that doesn't end with some pretty satin bow at the end, but makes you think, and makes you want to see it over and over again....

I love a great independent, and I love Hollywood legends. Put them together and I am one happy film-goer. This film had both, the independent feel, and one of Hollywood's most recognizable face: Martin Landau. Instead of getting to heavy, not a bad little movie about the Riven brothers and their multitude of dysfunction. The cast is well ensambled, many faces I recognize from various television and indie works. Gale Harold, whos fans swooned quite loudly during the flick, was a convincing Kyle. Though the character lacked much in the way of bite. Emotionally troubled characters take time to flush out, and the time just wasn't here for a character I believe the writer's falsely made the focus of the story. More interesting and impressive was Blake Gibbons, as a stern (if that's even the right word!) Raymond Riven. Something very dynamic about the way Gibbons handled the various scenes. It's not a sex appeal (though he is quite attractive). It's not intensity (he had it at times). It's just seemed natural. He became Raymond. Just overall impressive. Not a bad flick, but not one I would overly recommend. Some wonderful moments for these actors and not a bad storyline. See it if your a straight girl with Showtime, between the ages of 15 and 50, who thinks Mr. Harold is a cinema star because you can see him naked each week on "Queer As Folk". Otherwise, I have plenty of other independents I can easily recommend if your looking for something worthwhile.

Dark, intense, brooding, with a little black humour. I liked this for the way it left so many things ambiguous, and didn't feel the need to spell everything out. We get just enough backstory to understand the gist of the brothers' issues with each other and their past. As the audience, we're left to put things together in a way that works for us, which is challenging without being frustrated. The dark underlying tension between the brothers feels menacing, but the dysfunction, shared history, and unresolved issues are universal for anyone with siblings or a family. This is Gale Harold's best non-QAF work. He and Blake Gibbons both shine as two brothers who are polar opposites, or perhaps the complementary yin and yang of this particular unhappy family.

In a dilapidated old farmhouse in Maine an elderly lady lies dying while her solicitous son looks on. He is soon joined by his three brothers and a dark tale of violence and perversion ensues! The house reeks of decay and death and so do the boys as they squabble over missing money, ancient crimes, long hidden secrets. The tensions among them are utterly believable even as every attempt to reach some resolution just unearths another mystery. The viewers' loyalty shifts from one brother to another as each in turn progresses from sympathetic to monstrous; from victim to predator.

The cast is universally excellent and the script and direction would do David Lynch proud! The story is rich enough to reward multiple viewings and is a perfect example of why we need independent productions like this so desperately; it actually makes you think all the way through!

The release of this movie was a source of great anticipation for me. For one reason or another I wouldn't make any of the screening for Wake over the last year, so for me by the time I saw Wake I walked out thinking that the phrase "Good Things Come to Those Who Wait" to be very true.

As I think most people would agree, (at least those that go to a movie to actually WATCH the film) Wake is a haunting film to say the least. If you are tired of the mindless, the fluff, the unsubstantial flick that Hollywood tends force feed us, then give this brilliant indy film your $10 bucks. Wake is just extraordinary. Everything from the depth of the storyline, to the interactions between the 4 brothers, to the intimate setting and the inviting yet foretelling music, Wake offers a true movie experience. You get sucked in and taken to places in your own mind that maybe you didn't want to go. But isn't that what movies are meant to do.

Enlighten, entertain, engage you... Well Wake does all of that. But above and beyond all else it was the acting and the depth of the story that got me back into the theater a second time. I knew there was something I missed the first time around and just needed to make sure that I got it all.

The acting is just magic. Gale Harold's acting talent was no great surprise. His talent, his dedication, his willingness to take on the dark, the doomed, the distraught character of Kyle goes along with what I have long believed about Gale Harold... He takes risks in the hopes of growing professionally and perhaps personally as well. Well I hope this role did that for him, because it shows in his performance. For the sake of not getting to flowery ... Gale Harold was magical as Kyle. And for that we all owe a ton of gratitude to one Susie Landau Finch and one Henry LeRoy Finch for convincing Mr. Harold to try his hand at acting and for creating the opportunity to play Kyle ... respectively. I was not familiar with Blake Gibbons until last Friday, but now I wonder why. He is a phenomenal actor who nailed the role of Roy. What I found most remarkable was his ability to go inside himself, deeply enough to bring about this performance. Roy is a character that can be a self-centered prick on one hand, yet clearly loving and caring on another. It is almost as if he battles between the two simultaneously in each scene.

There isn't enough to be said for Henry LeRoy Finch. Its simple really, if it wasn't for his brilliance, dedication, guts and obvious talent, Wake would not be.