Waking Madison (2010)

Waking Madison (2010). 1h 29m | R

“Waking Madison (2010)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie world is filled with talents coming from nowhere and making a splash. Director Katherine Brooks is not one of them. Her resume of MTV compilations and other professional jobs doesnu0026#39;t even quite prepare you for the badly worked clichés, uninspired acting, and amateurish writing here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe reason it comes to mind here (and not all the other mediocre movies out there) is that Brooks is both director and writer here, as if she was really sure of herself. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe idea isnu0026#39;t bad in itself. A young woman (played by Sarah Roemer) faces her multiple personality disorders in a period of high drama crisis. And the movie manifests this for the viewer in an unexpected way. When this u0026quot;tricku0026quot; first becomes clear (and Iu0026#39;ll give no hints here) itu0026#39;s fascinating, the one minute of actual fascination you can expect. When the trick gets played a second time itu0026#39;s pure sensationalism, or just lack of inspiration.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother problem is Elizabeth Shueu0026#39;s performance as the leading psychologist, which at first I blamed on her. Sheu0026#39;s bland and unconvincing, even after the final twist when you might reevaluate what her purpose was all along. Now I lay some blame at the directoru0026#39;s feet. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some nice grungy set designs, the music plays well into the mood, the photography is decent, the layering of video within the larger photography is interesting, and so on. I mean, it has the bones of a decent movie. It reminds you that writing comes first (the idea, and the dialog) and then acting and directing (hand in hand) are critical. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWho is this Sarah Roemer? A really promising actress with a terrible agent. The movies she has been in are rotten rotten rotten. So itu0026#39;s hard to see the energy she keeps just under the surface throughout. Likewise for two other secondary young women who play with intensity worthy of a spooky movie about mental disturbances: Imogen Poots (who was in the interesting u0026quot;Solitary Manu0026quot; with Michael Douglas) and Taryn Manning (who seems to have Roemeru0026#39;s same agent, or the same kind of agent).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo? What to do? Skip this one. There are many better low budget or low quality psycho flicks with better edges and surprises.”