PLOT: A corporate lawyer realizes the error of his ways while on a hallucinogenic trip.
REVIEW: The narrative feature debut of documentary and music video director Gille Klabin, THE WAVE unexpectedly reminded me of stories like A Christmas Carol and GROUNDHOG DAY, since it's a film about a guy who's getting life all wrong and realizes the error of his ways through some kind of otherworldly experience that he has to endure until he turns himself around. But instead of having the lead character get visited by ghosts or forcing them to relive the same day over and over again, THE WAVE drops its lead character into one of the wildest hallucinogenic trips ever… And I was left feeling that it might have been more effective if the lead character has started off as a much worse person.
This sort of story usually has the leads making total asses of themselves at first. THE WAVE centers on Frank, who does wrong but does it while trudging through a drab, soul-crushing life. He's a drone, a corporate lawyer who shuffles through paperwork, then goes home to a loveless marriage and a complicated financial situation. Now he has made a discovery that could be a major breakthrough for his career, a loophole that could save an insurance company from making a big pay-out to the family of a deceased firefighter. It's a douchebag move that the corporate higher-ups are going to be very happy about, but before Frank can see any benefit from it the film has already set his life-altering otherworldly event in motion.
Frank is played by the inherently likeable Justin Long, making it even harder for us to ever consider that he might be a bad guy. Instead, we're always rooting for him to figure out what's going on and make things right. The night before his big meeting about the insurance policy loophole, he makes the poor decision to accompany his co-worker Jeff (Donald Faison) on a night out on the town, during which they meet Natalie (Katia Winter) and her friend Theresa (Sheila Vand of A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT). Frank is clearly, instantly fascinated by Theresa, and because of this he takes the partying further than he would have otherwise – so far that he agrees to try a hallucinogenic drug offered by a strange fellow played by Tommy Flanagan, simply because the drug is passed between users through a French kiss and he wants Theresa's tongue in his mouth. Frank is warned that the effects of the drug will hit him like a wave. Thus we have the title of the film.
But while THE WAVE will certainly appeal to viewers who enjoy and specifically seek out drug trip movies (I know they're out there, a friend of mine used to watch any drug trip movie he could get his hands on), this drug doesn't just alter Frank's perception of the world. There's a sci-fi edge to this trip, especially once Frank realizes that he can manipulate the hallucinations through the use of clocks.
Most of the film involves Frank, Jeff, and Natalie going on a desperate search for Theresa and Flanagan's character Aeolus, hoping they'll have some information on how to get Frank's trip to end, since a full day goes by and the drug still hasn't worked its way through his system. Long does strong work as our beleaguered lead, with Winter and Faison providing entertaining support. Along the way they cross paths with Ronnie Gene Blevins as Ritchie, a drug dealer who steals scenes and chews scenery. And Vand shows up occasionally in imagined interludes, leaving me wishing she had gotten more to do so we could have gotten a better idea of who her character was.
THE WAVE is a decent movie, following Frank, Natalie, and Jeff on the quest to figure out what's going on is a fun ride and it becomes even more interesting when Frank realizes what's happening and what he has to do… But I didn't find it to be a wholly satisfying viewing experience in the end, because the final answers only brought up more questions. I wasn't clear on the rules of the trip, and I wasn't sure why Frank deserved to be punished to this degree. If he can take the steps he does to improve the situation, why couldn't he take other steps to give the film an even better ending? It's impossible to discuss these issues without delving into spoilers, so I have to leave it by just saying I was unsatisfied and puzzled.
The screenplay by Carl W. Lucas didn't totally make sense to me, but Klabin brought it to life with energy and a cool visual style; I could definitely see him going on to work on bigger and better projects from here. THE WAVE provides the eye candy, and will surely win a lot of fans because it's lively, nice to look at, and features solid performances from its stars. Plenty of viewers are going to have a good time with this one, even if they can't make sense of it all. It's a fine way to spend 87 minutes, but it's not one I'll be returning to.
Epic Pictures is giving THE WAVE a VOD and theatrical release on January 17th.