A melancholy youth ambles almost wordlessly through deep America -- rendered in dancy graphics -- receiving counsel from a parade of uproariously soliloquizing, exquisitely goofy pundits.

| May 2, 2024

My sleep is never this exciting. I wish I could dream like this.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 27, 2023

Linklater and his animation collaborators have clearly had a lot of fun, morphing characters into their own conversational subjects, destabilizing their environs, throwing the material world into question.

| Feb 25, 2020

It is a dream -or rather a series of waking dreams that slip into one another like those Russian dolls. It also takes computer animation in a new direction.

| Oct 10, 2019

Waking Life looks stunning... Animation, thesis, questions!

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 17, 2019

a commercial ripoff designed to confuse art-house patrons

| Original Score: D | Feb 13, 2011

Love-it-or-hate-it film best for older teens.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 29, 2010

A far-out-man poetry slam, art exhibit and imaginative philosophical discourse all at once drifts gently down a stream of consciousness until merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, "Waking Life" is but a dream. Who says existential fiction must be dreary?

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 22, 2010

A brilliant film that provokes thought, idea, and conversations within the audience through its surreal animation and incredibly profound conversations.

| Apr 29, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 18, 2008

Form and content fit perfectly: even if the highbrow babbling gets a bit much, the hypnotic animation means that there is always something to watch, like characters suddenly dissolving into smoke or spectacles expanding.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 9, 2008

A true independent film that uses animation techniques to their utmost.

| Original Score: A | Jul 24, 2007

This inventive animated film, which takes Linklater back to his roots in Austin and Slacker, represents a summation of all the philosophical concerns that have defined him as spokesperson for Gen-X.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Oct 31, 2006

The question comes up often in life: What's your favorite movie? Since October 2001, the answer has been easy and one I shoot back reflexively almost before someone's finished the question: "Waking Life."

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 2, 2006

The novelty of the much-lauded animation style wears off about halfway through, with the end result a film that's more interminable than anything else.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 1, 2006

The endless philosophising is a bit sophomoric and more jokes would help, but this is one of a kind that grows more absorbing the longer it runs.

| Jan 26, 2006

It is not the best film of the year, nor is it likely to be one that I purchase and watch often. Still, it is something that should be seen by everyone and experienced by any diehard film lover.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 1, 2005

I applaud Linklater for [directing] such an interesting ride. But it suffers from a lack of sensistivity to its audience...

| Original Score: A- | Jan 15, 2005

Linklater's most visually distinctive movie, with exquisitely detailed renderings ... that are at the same time unstable, floaty, in a way perfect for a dreamed reality.

| Jan 9, 2005

It reminded me of college.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 25, 2004