Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: movies.about.com While the patient stays awake, the viewers tend to fall asleep

Media Credit: movies.about.com

Ever been to a party where you meet a guy or girl and they desperately try to seem mysterious, deep, and thrilling? Awake is that person.

When I first saw the previews online I thought, what an original idea for a movie. It seemed so promising. I was so excited for it to come out in theatres and every time the preview was on TV, I would become more intrigued.

The concept seemed so interesting: a man undergoing surgery experiences the phenomenon anesthetic awareness, and is paralyzed but awake during his surgery. The cast seemed to be promising with Hayden Christensen as Clayton Beresford (the protagonist), Terrence Howard as his surgeon, Dr. Jack Harper, Lena Olin as Clayton's mother, Lilith, and Jessica Alba as Clayton's girlfriend, Sam. I really thought that this time Alba would prove me wrong; that she would prove that she is not just a girl with a pretty face, but she just could not do it.

This film made a feeble attempt at being a psychological thriller. All the so-called twists and turns were hinted out way too much. It was so bad that when they happened you could see it coming and the element of surprise was completely lost.

Christensen reminded me so much of a young Ryan Phillipe, who would have played this role much better. Originally Jared Leto and Kate Bosworth were supposed to play the leads. Now that would have been a movie. I really thought that Howard would have done a much better job, considering he was amazing in Crash, but he added nothing to the role.

Christensen's character, Beresford, is a young rich kid who "owns half of New York," basically buying our companies to create jobs. Alba plays his mother's assistant, and the two end up falling love.

Beresford does not tell his mother of their relationship, for fear that she will not approve of him dating her assistant. They end up having to sneak around. That part of the movie was not so bad. It is when they try to throw a twist in and muck it all up.

Beresford suffered a somewhat recent heart-attack, and was put on the donor list for a new heart. He insists on going to his friend, Dr. Harper, instead of the overly qualified surgeon his mother begs him to see. This is where it becomes Aesop fable-esque and shakes a finger at the audience: listen to your mothers, they know best.

After some time passes, Beresford receives a call that a new heart has arrived for him, and he gets prepped for surgery. The only thing is they did not give him enough anesthetic and he is able to feel every incision, including the reverse clamp. It is pretty grotesque since they show all of this. I definitely squirmed in my seat and had to cover my eyes.

While he is under the knife, he can also hear everything the doctors are saying, and he realizes they are plotting to kill him so they can get to his money.

I'm sitting there thinking, this scene is cool and finally the real plot. But then, once again, the disappointment hits.

The actual plot takes up about fifteen minutes of the whole movie, which is a shame. If they focused more on the phenomenon taking place, then this film would have been much more interesting. Instead, the director tries to bring in all these sub-plots and tie them into the film at the very end. If the hint dropping was much more subtle than the twists would have been much more successful.

If you are looking for a good movie to see to help ease your mind during finals, this is not it. Why pay eleven dollars to nap when you could do that in your dorm for free?

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