Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

The description of this film was extremely interesting to me. A young man wakes up one day and is able to see angels, demons and ghosts. Awesome! That is exactly the kind of documentary I was looking for, and the kind of thing I am interested in. I began watching, and couldn't wait to see what remarkable things the man would have to share, and how he would put this ability to use. Unfortunately, this film failed to deliver much insight. I appreciate that he decided to document his experiences, and that he embarked on a spiritual journey of sorts to try to figure out why it was happening to him and what to do with his gift. But, although he did embark on this "quest for answers" he also seemed so resistant to everything and so clueless the whole time, that it was almost like he didn't gain anything and neither did I from watching him. There were some very interesting segments in this film and the subject matter itself was enough to keep me watching, but everything seemed half-hearted and there never seemed to be much of a desire to use the gift to help others. It was more like, although he said it was such a great thing, his attitude seemed more that he considered it a nuisance. I get it though. This is the "real" experience he had. He struggled, he didn't necessarily always WANT to be gifted. This is an aspect of this kind of thing we don't often see. He didn't just become a famous medium with a reality show. He wasn't a "spiritual" or "new agey" type person. I am sure there are many like him who could have related to his situation. But still, I wish he would have been more passionate and would have embraced things more. It almost seemed like he had a closed mind to his own experiences! Like I said, I credit him for at least doing what he did. He tried, and he did some interesting work and spoke to some interesting people, no doubt. I would like to see a sequel made when he has fully come to terms and figured out how to use his gift.

No real explanation of how he affords all the travelling (does he even have a job?), no attempt to embrace any of the practises that offer him help, and a truly banal revelation that made me question seriously if the previous 90 minutes were worth it. Oh, and don't get me started on the oh-so-obvious guilt issues that command his life which he seems to be utterly oblivious to - or at least loathe to do anything about. Very little makes sense, and with massive coincidences (like his girlfriend's name) and scenes that smack of a set-up the overall feeling one gets from this is apathy, on every level. A semblance of a narrative arc would have been nice, but the story never gets out of second gear with the landscape becoming far more interesting than anything the protagonist does or says. I gave it a 5 because there's some evidence of competency in filmmaking, but with very little to engage with for the audience I can't recommend it.

It hit me pretty early on that this was most probably not a "legitimate" documentary but something more along the lines of Joaquin Phoenix'a "I'm Still Here". Still the concept was interesting. Personally I enjoyed the "spiritual journey" aspect that would have been interesting even without the premise of his sixth sense. A reviewer here implied, in so many words, that the film came off as one big advertisement for new age philosophy, etc. I didn't see it that way. On the contrary, Elrod's reactions to practically all of the "mystics" was one of befuddlement, confusion, cynicism and resignation that the journey had not ended...and perhaps it's a paradox that he "found enlightenment" not with modern esoteric theology but in the ancient wisdom of the Native American. On the contrary, I got the impression that some of the new age practices were being skewered. I mean, how foolish do grown men and women look shooting arrows at targets with blindfolds on their eyes??? I give the film a seven because it was interesting and a decent, if concise introduction to unorthodox belief systems. It held my attention.

It was interesting reading one of the other reviews on here that hits on how fraudulent Elrod seems in the first half of this documentary. I felt exactly the same way - that Elrod is a guy who either lives in a fantasy prone world or is outright hoaxing to make a quick buck. In fact I felt this way so much that after the first 30 minutes or so I kind of quit watching and started surfing the net on my computer instead while the documentary kept playing to itself in the background.I'm glad I didn't turn it off.Around the hour mark the documentary takes a turn, with Elrod heading out on a sort of spiritual quest, and gradually it caught my attention again. All talk of what he purportedly experiences goes away and instead he's just shown exploring a variety of spiritual groups from a new age mind control retreat, to a Buddhist center and finally a Native American vision quest in the forest.Ultimately the film becomes a message that all spiritual pursuits are probably just stumbling attempts pointing towards a single truth of the human condition. Elrod doesn't purport to comprehend this truth (he just calls it God) but he seems joyful enough to have come to the realization that it can't help but make the viewer feel a little uplifted with him.I should note that I'm agnostic bordering on atheism and I take vehement offense at any film that tries to preach to me. "Wake Up" did not, so even though the Christian concept of God is discussed through the first half of the film as Elrod's primary belief system, this is not a documentary that proselytizes in any way... so all you atheists out there are safe. So if you watch the documentary to the end, the question of whether Elrod is hoaxing or not kind of becomes moot. It becomes apparent that this is a film about human nature, inclusion and interconnectedness instead. It's about a journey away from organized religion and towards personal spirituality. Elrod may be a fictional protagonist heading towards this conclusion or he may legitimately believe in his experiences but it doesn't really matter because it still makes for a fairly engaging quest.