Wake Before I Die

With "Wake Before I Die,"The Brothers Freeman have crafted a great faith-based suspense drama, not straight out of Hollywood, but straight from the heart of Oregon. The film, based on their father's book, is the sometimes rambling story of a small town preacher and his family - filled with great expectations - as they move into a new parish. Early on, Pastor Dan (Robert McKeehen) is warned that the town is strange and he may not make it out alive. The question is - Why? With all the expectations that preface sets up, we begin a journey with Pastor Dan, his wife (Aubrey Walker) and their two children as they get acquainted with the town, where everything appears as normal and All-American as apple pie (at least on the surface). But when one of Dan's parishioners asks the Pastor to take in his teen age daughter (Nouel Riel), things take a definite turn toward the weird (after all, Portland is famous for its streak of weird). But as one who has admired the work of the Brothers Kendrick ("Fireproof" and "Face the Giants") I can say without any hesitation, this Freeman Brothers film stands tall in the faith based arena. Their direction is organic. Performances from the large cast of Oregon actors are polished and believable. And the cinematography (also by the Brothers Freeman) serves the story faithfully. What does the film have to do with Rosemary's Baby? You'll have to see it to find out. But rest assured, this is one suspense drama you'll be able to take the whole family to see. Rated G for God Darn Good Fun.

When I saw this film at the premiere (Bagdad theater Portland OR) I didn't know much about what I was going to see however I must admit I had certain expectations. This is because "Wake Before I Die" was the fourth independent feature premiere I attended at the same theater within the last six months so naturally, being an enthusiast of local, low budget film I was comparing them. I do not know anyone affiliated with the production of the film however I was aware of the budget and that it was over twenty times that of the previous three films I had seen there. I can honestly say without exaggerating that it was one of the biggest let downs I have ever encountered in a movie theater. If they had charged me money, I would have asked for it back, it would have been the first time. The most positive thing I can truthfully say about the film is among the muck there were a few stand out performances by some of the leads especially the children. It's too bad that these performances do not even come close to out weighing the boredom, the incoherency, the lack of editing, the first semester film school lighting, the grating music, the uninspired photography.. to name just a few problems I had with the film. I've seen better films produced on a budget of unemployment and food stamps. Seriously. My girlfriend and I did our best to pay attention throughout the excruciating run time and discussed what we thought it was about and neither of us could articulate a plot line we agreed on. We decided that we both agreed that no matter what it was, we didn't care. Portland currently has a vibrant, close knit, budding film community that just needs a few good staples to really catch the eye of the rest of the world. This film is not one of them, and I think honesty in the reviews is very important so there can be an accurate spectrum to judge other creative works within the city's film scene. (note that the ten star review above this one was made months before it's release).

I went to Wake Before I Die with very high hopes. There are very few Portland films that acquire a budget, so I was curious to see how this feature turned out. Sadly the whole experience was a major let down. For a film with a budget, it looks very cheap. No attention to lighting, simple camera set ups, mediocre editing. Luckily there were several solid performances turned in by Prosser, McKeehen and a few others. My main problem with Wake was how dull it was. Portland seems to have an obsession with slow dramatic pieces. Dramas can be dramatic and still entertaining. This was not. Entertainment value seems to be something lost on the film world of Portland. Pieces like the clever Forge, the entertaining One Foot in the Gutter or the impressive feat James vs Reality sit on the sidelines while budgets are handed out to films like this one which have no mass appeal beyond the local film crowd.

As an outsider of Portland's film community, I feel my voice carries some merit in reviewing this film. I should also mention I review films for a living…but to be honest, to review this film would be a big waste of time. I will say the film itself is a big pile of crap. The music was about the worst of it, blaring at deafening volumes to cover moments of absent story. As an avid film watcher (part of my job), I watch a lot of movies: low budget, to even B movies. But faith-based movies go into their own category and cannot be measured by the standard of regular films -- they are in fact, baby-food for the film illiterate. Faith based movies are among some of the worst movies I've ever seen (stand back Tommy Wiseau), often catering to a lesser educated, superstitious audience who find entertainment in the most juvenile of movie plots. Again, I won't bore you with the irritating details but after I saw these other reviews, I felt it was my integrity to say the truth; these other reviewers are clearly family members or friends of the cast, because no normal film-goer would ever give this movie 10 stars…I mean Shawshank doesn't even have that many 10 star reviews. C'mon people, this movie was a joke…a bad one.

I thought one of the best parts of this film was the young actor who played the pastor's son. Finding a watchable, and BELIEVABLE, child actor who can carry so much screen time is a challenge in itself, let alone in a smaller city like Portland where the infrastructure is not yet in place to churn out the hordes of well-trained young stars-aspirant that directors have access to in LA, for instance. So kudos to Elijah Nelson for his performance, and to the filmmakers for casting him.

Not a filmmaker myself, I refuse to really speak to the film's more technical aspects...besides saying that MAKING A GOOD MOVIE IS HARD, why don't YOU try it and then come back and spout opinions! I am proud of our local boys for using the Opif to create something fitting for mainstream cinema, with professional production values all around. I think many of the deficiencies mentioned by our aspiring film critics (like spotty writing, over-scoring, etc.) are typical pitfalls of a film that is written, directed, edited, and produced all by the same team of people. To quote a favorite acting teacher of mine, they "fall in love with their own material," and have a hard time taking the axe to their product to really whittle it into something marketable, concise, and of quality. As the local industry grows, however, I am sure filmmakers will be able to avoid this trap more and more often. Oregon has such a talented and qualified pool of film workers that second and third opinions can't help but start to mean something.