The terms of Waking Madison are stated upfront: Madison (Sarah Roemer) stares at herself from a videotape image and lists her problems. She has no job, no friends and her phone has been disconnected. Madison will lock herself in her apartment for 30 days, trying to pull herself together. If nothing changes before she hits the deadline, she will kill herself. Madison, it transpires, suffers from a dissociative identity disorder nurtured by her toxically religious mother.
Although director Katherine Brooks keeps the tone of Waking Madison (out on DVD) at a Prozac-flat level, she infuses many scenes with visual interest, making good used of montage and a Surrealism that's one part Cocteau, two parts recent horror flicks to carry parts of the story. The scenic atmosphere of New Orleans French Quarter, where the impoverished Madison improbably lives, forms a striking impression with all its jazz, voodoo and neon. Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) co-stars as the caring psychiatrist wrestling with her own demons.
Perhaps the best line is voiced by the African American bartender who tells Madison: “You're too f---ing white! We don't let shit bother us!” Tell her, sister!
