Waking The Dead is about a man who is conflicted between his idealistic side and his pragmatic side. He sees the idealistic for all of its beauty and seductiveness, yet is not willing to let go of his understanding of the real world. When the idealism disappears, he feels guilty and wonders if he has sold out, whether it was worth it to sacrifice the purity of the ideal for the effectiveness of the real.
I think about these issues all the time, so Waking The Dead worked really well for me. I can see how others would refuse to see the jennifer Connelly character as a viable choice, and how the movie wouldn't work as well for them.
The important thing is that Fielding did fall for her, he did love her, and even if he didn't choose her path to political action, he understood that deep down her values were good ones, that she wanted to help people just like he did, and was willing to die to help people just like he was willing. So even if it was a choice that many of us wouldn't even consider, we see that the choice was very real for him.
I personally believe that true love will cause people to consider doing things that they aren't really programmed to do. I guess to really like the movie, you have to accept either the viability of joining a left wing radical group or the view that a person in love will consider almost anything. Preferably, one would accept both premises.
