An aspiring politician (Billy Crudup) falls in love with an activist (Jennifer Connelly) in "Waking the Dead" from 2001, directed by Keith Gordon and adapted from the eponymous novel by Robert Dillon.
When Fielding Pierce meets his brother's assistant Sarah in 1972, the two fall in love with one another. It's a deep, emotional love. But they have different ideologies. Fielding has political ambitions; Sarah is idealist who spends her time helping others. She is killed in an explosion while helping members of the Chilean resistance.
Nine years later, a Fielding is running for the Senate, he starts seeing Sarah everywhere and can't get her out of his mind. It affects his campaign work, to the consternation of those trying to get him elected.
This is a movie that's almost painful to watch, because Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly pour such passion and emotion into their love affair, that you feel his pain when she's gone. They're both excellent -- and very young here.
There are some old-timers in the cast as well - Hal Holbrook and Bernard Behrens, to name two, but also the excellent stage actors Janet McTeer and Larry Marshall. Ed Harris has a small role as someone on television. "House of Cards" actress Molly Parker plays Crudup's current girlfriend, though he doesn't really love her.
I think the love story was the most compelling element of this film - though these two people want to do good in the world, they approach it in different ways, and that separates them.
One of the last scenes is deliberately ambiguous when it really shouldn't be -- if you look at the message board you will see a description of a deleted scene and what is in the book.
It's a lovely story.
One other thing - a lot of people did not like Sarah. I find that so interesting - every time I watch a film featuring a female activist, everybody hates her. I watched "The Constant Gardener" and had to listen to everyone hating on Rachel Weisz. Ditto "The Whistleblower." Go figure. Too left-wing? Too goody two-shoes? I don't know. But people sure have a strong reaction.
When Fielding Pierce meets his brother's assistant Sarah in 1972, the two fall in love with one another. It's a deep, emotional love. But they have different ideologies. Fielding has political ambitions; Sarah is idealist who spends her time helping others. She is killed in an explosion while helping members of the Chilean resistance.
Nine years later, a Fielding is running for the Senate, he starts seeing Sarah everywhere and can't get her out of his mind. It affects his campaign work, to the consternation of those trying to get him elected.
This is a movie that's almost painful to watch, because Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly pour such passion and emotion into their love affair, that you feel his pain when she's gone. They're both excellent -- and very young here.
There are some old-timers in the cast as well - Hal Holbrook and Bernard Behrens, to name two, but also the excellent stage actors Janet McTeer and Larry Marshall. Ed Harris has a small role as someone on television. "House of Cards" actress Molly Parker plays Crudup's current girlfriend, though he doesn't really love her.
I think the love story was the most compelling element of this film - though these two people want to do good in the world, they approach it in different ways, and that separates them.
One of the last scenes is deliberately ambiguous when it really shouldn't be -- if you look at the message board you will see a description of a deleted scene and what is in the book.
It's a lovely story.
One other thing - a lot of people did not like Sarah. I find that so interesting - every time I watch a film featuring a female activist, everybody hates her. I watched "The Constant Gardener" and had to listen to everyone hating on Rachel Weisz. Ditto "The Whistleblower." Go figure. Too left-wing? Too goody two-shoes? I don't know. But people sure have a strong reaction.