Review of Wake

Wake (I) (2009)
8/10
Lovely, feel good film
15 March 2014
I had no idea what to expect from this, but I'm familiar with Bijou Phillip's work and although she usually plays trashy characters, this one is definitely her best role yet and would love to see her play more of them. There was something different about her, she looked fantastic! She comes off as a quirky, sweet, off-beat woman called Carys (pronounced Care-riss) who apparently has no feelings towards others until she attends a strangers funeral and meets her future love, Tyler (Ian Somerhalder) who's mourning the death of his fiancé, Anna. Carys lives with her hilarious roommate Lila (Marguerite Moreau) who has major issues of her own, she also shares personal thoughts with her best friend Shane (Danny Masterson), a funeral director who is accused by Tyler for possibly taking Anna's engagement ring that has mysteriously disappeared off her finger. Meanwhile, Carys later discovers that Tyler may be hiding something too.

The movie had great chemistry between the characters and I found it perfectly engaging, which is rare for me when it comes to these rare types of story lines that sound like it might be awful but completely surprises you in the end. I would definitely call it original, something you wouldn't expect in a movie.

It pretty much offers everything from plenty of light humor that doesn't overshadow the rest of the film, romance with a touch of mystery/suspense. Depending on the way you view it, it's actually kind of tragic, too, because the story deals with the death of a loved one, more than once. One thing I would change about the film is a little more emphasis on Tyler's dead fiancé, Anna, maybe some flashbacks of their time together? I think if we met her, instead of just hearing about how wonderful she was, we would feel more sympathy for Tyler losing her.

It's not a sappy PG-13 romantic-comedy type, although it may seem that way in the beginning with the whole ring thing. (Rated R for language although not frequent - more than one f-word, and two love scenes - one being particularly steamy without nudity). I would say it's something that's worth watching more than once (seen it twice) and if you don't take the dialog too seriously, you will most likely enjoy it too.
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