In an age where it is generally regarded that the idea for a should be be summed up in eight words or less to fit the poster it is refreshing to find something that thinks a little deeper. Waking Life is not so much a film with ideas, it's a set of ideas lashed together film.
Waking Life is an animated film that follows it's protaganist through a 90 minute dream where he encounters people who expound upon life, dreams and philosophy. It possesses little narrative structure and at times feels like a set of bite size philosophy lectures. Not so much Deep Ideas For Dummies as Literary Thoughts For Arty Cinema Folk.
Each of the sections are animated by different people, all of whom worked from video footage shot by writer-director Richard Linklater. This makes the film feel like a slippery dreamy imitation of life that mimics the content. It is difficult to know how to regard Waking Life. It lacks the plot to be a film, it is too literal to be experimental art and too artistic to be a documentary.
However in the grey area between film, art and documentary Waking Life seems to thrive. If you are in the mood for something thought provoking and original, and you are willing to pay attention then this could be the film for you. It is certainly one of the most original, memorable and engaging cinematic experiments of recent years.