Waking Life

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 19, 2001

8.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 135 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

drecool95May 31, 2015

This might be an incredible, mindbending experience for someone with no knowledge of philosophy or someone who's more interested in the visuals than the content. But for me, someone with a major interest in philosophy who's really familiarThis might be an incredible, mindbending experience for someone with no knowledge of philosophy or someone who's more interested in the visuals than the content. But for me, someone with a major interest in philosophy who's really familiar with a lot of these topics, this film really hits you over the head in an uncomfortable way. It's just the character walking from one giant mouth of a character to another, listening to their didactic rambling about introductory philosophical debates that really fall flat if you know the background to each of the fragments. Linklater might as well have written a series of short essays on philosophy, because that's really all he does here. No true message, no philosophical thought left to the viewer, just a series of disconnected moments that don't really offer any sort of deeper meaning. I enjoy the visuals of the film, but everything about the writing comes off as sloppy, preachy, and far too heavy-handed for my taste. Maybe my opinion will change with further viewings, but after my first viewing, I'd much rather watch a truly cerebral film that doesn't spoonfeed you ideas, and then later read a philosophy article, than be bombarded with this silly sort of "philosophical" movie.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

All this user's reviews

PatC.Sep 7, 2005

Unique and cerebral, but probably should be regarded more as a philosophical tutorial or documentary. I found the jittery animated visualization hard on the eyes and the lack of plot and character development disruptive of the continuity Unique and cerebral, but probably should be regarded more as a philosophical tutorial or documentary. I found the jittery animated visualization hard on the eyes and the lack of plot and character development disruptive of the continuity required for attentive viewing of a full length feature. The film appears to be a compilation of fleeting thoughts that didn't fit into other projects. While interesting to the introspective mind and containing an undeniably positive message, I didn't think they constituted a movie.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

DavidT.Mar 29, 2007

I feel as though this film created exactly what I believe it was trying to escape, an effortless post-modern dichotomy. "Being wierd...for the sake of being wierd!" Terrible film.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

TomH.May 12, 2007

Graphics were nausea inducing. First 20 minutes of the story were very hard to follow.

0 of 1 users found this helpful