★ 6 / 10
Waking Madison (Katharine Brooks, 2010) Waking Madison suffers
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Waking Madison (Katharine Brooks, 2010) Waking Madison suffers from what I call the Curse of Synchronicity that seems to descend upon Hollywood at least once a…
Waking Madison (Katharine Brooks, 2010)
Waking Madison suffers from what I call the Curse of Synchronicity that seems to descend upon Hollywood at least once a year. This is when two screenwriters, independently of one another, end up developing the same idea into different scripts and, because no one talks to anyone else in Hollywood, two different movies with strikingly similar subject matter end up getting released within months, or sometimes weeks, of one another. (The classic example: in 2000, the twin box-office flops Red Planet and Mission to Mars were released six months apart.) Katharine Brooks, the director of Loving Annabelle, got smacked with it here, with her fourth feature-but telling you what the other 2010 movie is that turns on this exact mechanism would give the game away, so that's all the farther I can go there.
Not that it would be a huge spoiler here, since Waking Madison doesn't rely on that particular Big Twist(TM) taking us all the way to the ending; she's dropped hints all the way through that this isn't quite what it seems, starting with the opening scene of Madison (Disturbia's Sarah Roemer), on a videotape, telling herself that she has thirty days to figure out what's wrong with her, and that if she hasn't by the end of that time, she's going to commit suicide-and that she has recorded this tape as a reminder to herself, in case she forgets. Fast-forward-or are we flashing back?-and Madison is in the bin with the usual collection of folks who range from the problem-with-authority muscle-dyke (Taryn Manning, who shows more verve here than she has since White Oleander) to the teddy-bear-clutching, gently-rocking girl (28 Weeks Later...'s Imogen Poots), all under the care of Elizabeth Barnes (Leaving Las Vegas' Elisabeth Shue). Which is about all I can tell you without giving away that first (but not the last, as that opening scene presages) big twist-though I can tell you that Dr. Barnes takes a special interest in Madison's case that involves digging into her past and meeting her rather terrifying mother (The Aviator's Frances Conroy) and milquetoast father (Meek's Cutoff's Will Patton), who end up figuring into things when we get round to the final confrontation.
Waking Madison is a movie that has a chance at getting retroactive play-it was the first film financed by Megan Ellison, the now-powerhouse producer behind Annapurna Pictures, among whose 2012 projects were two films nominated for Best Picture (Zero Dark Thirty and The Master), as well as cult favorites Lawless and Killing Them Softly. And if that's enough to get people to go back and see it, then that's enough-this is as good as, probably a bit better than, the other movie that runs along those same lines that got released in 2010, but got a lot wider of a release because it had a much, much bigger-name director at the helm. And if that nets Katherine Brooks a few more fans along the way, well, she deserves it. ***
★ 7 / 10
I usually don't watch the same film twice
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I usually don't watch the same film twice. I've seen it. I know how it ends. But Waking Madison demanded a second viewing. As did Fight Club. They both are so…
I usually don't watch the same film twice. I've seen it. I know how it ends. But Waking Madison demanded a second viewing. As did Fight Club. They both are so intriguing in their own way that I had to watch each of them again. Fight Club I watched immediately. One viewing right after the other. But not Waking Madison. Waking Madison gnawed at me for weeks. Images from the film invaded my daily life and distracted my work routine. And every time I attempted to watch another movie, my inner voice kept telling me that I needed to watch Waking Madison again. So I finally succumbed and took a second look.
Waking Madison is billed as a thriller but I think calling it a psychological drama might be more fitting. Now, you should know, I usually avoid psychological dramas like the plague. They confuse me. I am usually lost most of the time as I was with this film. I'm not one of those people who like to figure out what's happening, to guess the ending. Instead, I sit back, taking it as it comes, watching the plot unfold as it offers hints here and there as to what is coming next. I'm willing to dispel reality for two hours.
The ads tell us right up front that Waking Madison is about a woman who suffers from Dissociative Disorder (DD), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It also tells us that she's a phone sex operator. Well, even if she is, it's never addressed in the movie so it did not matter to this viewer. It's confusing to even mention it. Plus, anyone who knows anything about DD knows that the sufferer cannot turn it on and off at will so it really wouldn't help her on-the-job role playing.
What Katherine Brooks has created is a raw, sometimes painful to watch, skillfully detailed story about a woman who can't take living the life she lives anymore. In fact, she is desperate to change it. We meet Madison Walker, lusciously played by Sarah Roemer, as she stares directly into the camera in the first frame and tells us that if things don't change within 30 days, she's going to kill herself. That's the way she says hello. And it takes off from there.
Suddenly we're in a hospital watching her being interviewed by the therapist on duty, Dr. Barnes (Elizabeth Shue). Madison is quiet and sedate and insists that she would never attempt to take her own life. Yet in the next scene when we see her in her apartment, down on her hands and knees sopping up the floor covered by the buckets of blood left behind from her having slit her wrists, the viewer can feel her anguish and fear as her eyes fill with tears at the realization that she did indeed attempt to kill herself, yet doesn't remember it at all.
Ms. Roemer plays Madison with such subtlety and grace that it was a joy to watch. She could be our sister or daughter or best friend. We all seem to know a Madison. Her constant exhaustion and tear filled eyes reflect the agony she experiences every moment of every day while constantly working to put one foot in front of the other.
When Madison takes the advice of Dr. Barnes and checks herself into a mental hospital she meets a variety of characters. First there is Margaret, who can't resist the temptation to abuse someone weaker, who's always looking for a fight, and always finds one. Talented Taryn Manning brings a physical and psychic energy to Margaret that makes her easy to dislike. At the same time, there is a vulnerability about this young bully which tugs at our heartstrings. The character of Alexis can be grating because she is so terribly needy and childlike but Imogene Poots walks the line carefully so as not to alienate her viewers. We believe she is this waif-like girl-woman who is damaged to the point of near non-return and we feel angry at Margaret who constantly tortures her. And then there is Erin Kelly, who plays Grace, the young 20-something who rationally accepts her lot in life and gets anything she wants by offering sexual favors. It was a real treat to watch Ms. Kelly, as she's grown considerably as an actress since her days in Loving Annabelle.
I've never been a big Elizabeth Shue fan and this film didn't change my mind until near the end, when I understood her performance. Until then she often seemed out of character. The small things.....exhibiting fear when Margaret threatens her, her unprofessional emotional attachment to Madison, her losing her cool in the hospital when her patients don't want to cooperate, and the one that drove me over the edge: curling her hair with her fingers during a therapy session. Yet, as the movie progressed, it became evident why so many of her behaviors seemed so wrong. It was at that moment that I truly appreciated Ms. Shue's restrained performance and Ms. Brooks' adept direction.
Two more actresses deserve special mention: Connor Ann Waterman (young Madison) was near perfection. It's easy to understand how grown up Madison suffered as a child through Ms. Waterman's charmingly, innocent performance. And Frances Conroy as Madison's half crazed religiously fanatic Mom was as delightful as ever.
Bottom line, it is Katherine Brooks' script and direction that keeps haunting me about this film. I know very little about Ms. Brooks except that she's in her mid-thirties and that she's been on her own since she was 16. However, knowing that she not only directed but wrote this piece blows me away. Brilliant is the only word that comes to mind. She made some absolutely brilliant choices. The lighting and camera angles in the hospital, the transitions from hospital to apartment and back again, from past to present, from alter to alter. I realize that 315 is an important number to Ms. Brooks, yet I have no idea why. Was she trying to help us relate to Madison? Should I know but simply can't remember?
Ms. Brooks is a master storyteller who doesn't have any qualms forcing the viewer to wait patiently while she weaves her tale until she is ready to gently reel you in when she wants you to know more. I loved the final therapy scene as the camera literally floated slowly back and forth allowing us to look through the lens of the ever-present video camera and we re-hear some of the same dialogue we heard earlier. But now it all makes sense. Or almost all. Inspired. Ingenious. Brilliant. I feel as though I know Katherine Brooks after watching this film. Do I? Probably not. Yet with Waking Madison, she is giving us something that seems so personal, so overflowing with secrets, so jam packed with suffering, and then finally hope, that I feel as though I'm looking deep into her soul. So I can't help but speculate on how much is actually her and how much simply comes from her creative genius. And I wonder if she's trying to tell us something without really saying a word. Watch the film. And then watch it again.
42%
AUDIENCE
· 100 ratings
5.4/10
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