The idea of the universe trying to fix itself on the same level as this movie suggests is enough to make a lot of people laugh, but after watching The Wave they might continue laughing or they might sit down and wonder about how serious some ideas concerning the universe are. The movie is kind of an odd one to be certain since Justin Long and Donald Faison take on a story that essentially begins as one man’s attempt to cut loose and enjoy him becomes a quest to do the right thing and live with a bit of dignity. Of course, things get out of control in a big hurry when Frank (Long) goes out with his buddy Jeff (Faison) the night before he’s scheduled to deliver a file to his bosses concerning an insurance claim that has several discrepancies that he noted. When Frank and Jeff meet two women, Natalie and Theresa, they decide to attend a house party where Frank ends up being given a hallucinogen by a stranger named Aeolus, played by Tommy Flanagan. Before he realizes it, Frank finds himself sitting in the same house as daylight streams in through the windows.
Upon being confronted by an Asian family that obviously owns the place, he runs out the back as quickly as he can, leaving his wallet in the place in the process. Flagging down a cabbie he makes his way home only to get into a fight with his wife, who eventually begins to throw things at him. When he ducks behind a door to avoid the next thing she throws, however, Frank finds himself at his workplace, toothbrush still in hand as his buddy Jeff asks what happened to him the night before. Things continue to spiral out of control as Frank has an insane, technicolor vision as he’s presenting his report to his bosses. One can’t help but think of the worst hallucination they’ve ever had in their life, whether they’ve had experience with one drug or another or not, as Frank becomes violently ill and admits to Jeff that he might still be high.
As they go looking for the women they met the night before the two friends end up waiting outside the bar, whereupon Jeff decides to rest in the backseat for a while. Frank, sitting in the driver’s seat, slams his hand on the dashboard, which suddenly causes a transition from day to night. Greatly confused, both men make their way into the bar, only to find that Natalie is there, but not Theresa. Natalie takes the two men to a drug dealer named Richie that sees that Frank is flying high, and offers him something to bring him down. When Frank suddenly ingests a massive amount of drugs the scene quickly changes as he’s whisked away to a dream sequence where he meets with Theresa, who tells him that the universe is trying to bring balance, which kind of explains the dilemma he’s found himself in but is still confusing enough to make many audience members wonder what in the world is going on since it continues to be obvious that Frank knows little to nothing of what’s happening to him.
When he comes back to the real world again Frank realizes that he, Jeff, and Natalie are now in the middle of a high-speed chase as the drug dealer, Richie, is trying to recover a duffel bag full of drugs that Frank stole. When the trio is caught and dragged back to Richie’s apartment Frank begins to realize that he can alter the situation as he goes back a day, somehow, and obtains the money that Richie needs for his drugs, and arranges to have it delivered the following day. After being released, Natalie states that she never wants to see either man again, and Jeff states that he needs time to process what just happened. In the meantime, Frank returns to work to fix the policy that he was working on at the beginning of the movie, making things right as he sees it, even after his boss threatens to fire him for signing off on the policy, which would pay the wife of a deceased policyholder 4 million dollars.
Frank then returns to the bar via the same time jump method as he’s instantly hit by a drunk driver, an accident he saw happen the night before. This time, however, he’s struck and killed by the driver, who turns out to be his boss, who is also intoxicated at the time. As we see Frank return to Theresa on the ethereal plane where they connected, his boss finds himself in big trouble when the drugs that Frank stole are found in the back of his vehicle, thereby balancing things out supposedly as the understanding is that the boss might be looking a bit of prison time. When all is said and done, this movie is a massive head trip that’s entertaining but definitely requires a person’s undivided attention.
Jeff
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