Waking Life

This self conciously odd piece of animation from Linklater is in many ways rather half-cooked, but there are much worse ways to spend ninety minutes.
The camera following our drawn Wiley Wiggins about is shaky and unstable, certainly disoreintating and we are curious to know whther the from of animation made this a necessity. By the time of 'A Scanner Darkly' the part animatory use of actors had improved leaps, and that film is much more succesful at integrating the style to the film it surrounds. It is an arresting technique; the texture and flourishes made us, well, keep our eyes on the screen. It would be wrong to say that it was more than a diversion however.
The film itself can be a little too much like a showcase for the visuals; the (quite deliberate) meandering structure (we look forward to slackers) may not get boring but does leave a certain incomplete feeling. The conversations, especially earlier on, our fitfully interesting but rather shallow. A good introduction for the 15 year old stoner they may be, but when we had knoweldge of the topic the analyses was pretty much artifical or trivial. Though the very raising of the philosophical, scientific and sociological questions ut does should be applauded.
The film is at its best when the script becomes fragmented, the visuals tire the viewer and let them enter a world of hallucination and weightlessness. Rather fittingly, it is a film that both encourages and revels in its soporific qualities.
A film worth seeing if just for the development of the visual technique (though 'A Scanner' would really be the place to go to see this), and for its bravery in at least reaching out for some intelligence. Far from a wonder, however.