Waking the Dead

Gordon directs with a graceful precision and shorthand that makes the story seem simple, though it's anything but. Indeed, it's fascinatingly complex, juggling time periods and political, mystical, and psychological themes without ever losing touch with the core message: Love conquers all.

It's a romantic weepie.

This wonderfully acted romance brings the touching fantasy "Truly, Madly, Deeply" to mind.

Has a good heart and some fine performances, but is too muddled at the story level to involve us emotionally.

Forever stumbling over itself and breaking its own spell.

Enough to anesthetize the living.

Spanning the counterculture '70s to the more career-oriented '80s and doing justice to neither decade, this event-heavy adaptation of Scott Spencer's novel may give viewers whiplash.