Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" does for philosophy what Kevin Smith's "Dogma" does for religion, i.e. rather than dilate, the films dilute it down to a pop iconographic level that's more mass market generalization and therefore misrepresentation than heartfelt exploration.
"Waking Life" is Linklater's venture into animation - the entire movie was shot in live action before being cartooned over by animation wizard Bob Sabison and team. It's an ambitious pursuit, and the visuals are outstanding. But the film's other facets are less than good.
"Waking Life's" unnamed hero, played by Wiley Wiggins ("Dazed and Confused"), has returned to his old town. He's stuck inside a dream (or though it seems), but even though he knows it's a dream, he can't wake up. The film is a smorgasbord of his wanderings from person to person and place to place.
Linklater means well, but he fails in the film's very setup. Take a Mark Leyner-style rejection of plot
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