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[REVIEWS
> WAKE
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| 06/04/04 |
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| Riven
brothers and friends in LeRoy Finch's "Wake" |
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| "O
Brother, Four Art Thou?" |
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Reviewed by Dan Dammet
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| Four brothers converge one dark night on
their childhood home in Maine and confront a whole mess
of sibling rivalry in a gripping drama that examines filial
relationships gone wrong. Henry LeRoy Finch’s ambitious
first effort as writer and director, the independent feature
film "Wake" seems like four stories rolled into
one: a bacchanalian reunion of four brothers that dissolves
into a deep conflict, a tale of revenge for the psychological
abuse of one brother at the hands of another, a jailbreak
followed by a search for a dead alcoholic father’s
stashed loot and a hesitant examination of euthanasia. |
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| Martin Landau bookends the film as the aged Sebastian
Riven, who sits at his typewriter hunting and pecking
out his recollections of that fateful night long ago when
coincidence was king and those four plots mentioned above
collided to create the central story. Those recollections
are the meat of the film –a flashback, with a little
flashback within flashback, as we see just why the brothers
Riven have so much trouble hanging out in the same room
with one another and the results of that animosity. (The
family name Riven is no coincidence, mind you. A quick
peek into the dictionary confirmed my suspicions of symbolism
with a definition for riven that reads, “split by
force or violence,” and that definition sums up
the reunion of these brothers on the night in question.) |
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| Dihlon McManne plays the younger Sebastian Riven, an
introverted eldest brother who lives at home, aspires
to write and tends to his bed-ridden mother. Sebastian
summons youngest brother Kyle, played by "Queer as
Folk’s" Gale Harold, to assist him in a plan
to euthanize their mother who lies catatonic in an upstairs
bedroom. Calling on Kyle to assist in the passing of Mother
Riven is a no-brainer for Sebastian since Kyle did some
time in a mental institution and somehow got his hands
on some potent drugs while on the inside. With Kyle’s
pilfered drugs, Sebastian’s plan to speed the passing
of his mother from this world to the next should prove
effortless. The unfortunate coincidence of the other brothers
showing up at the house throws a monkey wrench into Sebastian’s
plans. First comes Raymond ("General Hospital"),
fresh from escaping from prison (a plot point then unbeknownst
to Sebastian and Kyle), and then brother Jack John Winthrop
Philbrick), a former security guard, arrives at the house
with a couple of strippers in tow to help celebrate Raymond’s
escape. |
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| The ensemble cast featuring Gale Harold
and Blake Gibbons moves the story along at a brisk pace,
keeping the cumbersome plot at bay while turning some
fine performances in the process. Harold actually looks
a lot like Ashton Kutcher, but the similarity is only
visual–Harold can act and it’s his performance
that carries the film. And Blake Gibbons, looking a
bit like a younger version of Nick Nolte’s most
recent mug shot, agitates the cumbersome story along
as the fugitive brother Raymond, even though he seems
more southern peckerwood in his interpretation than
Maine rough boy. |
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In the end, "Wake" is an engaging
look at just how dysfunctional a dysfunctional family
can get when the parents are either gone or on the way
out. With it’s meticulous scripting and performance-driven
story, the film seems more like a stage play adapted for
the screen than a film from the onset. One can only wonder
how powerful the story would become if a few of the many
plots present were excised and the energy of the performers
was focused on only one or two moral dilemmas. .jpg) |
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Now
in theatrical release
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| "Wake" is now playing in a limited engagement
in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Regent Showcase, 614 N. La
Brea Avenue, (323) 934-2944, and in New York City at Quad Cinema,
34 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011 (212) 255-8800. Call
theaters for show times. |
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