CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Awake

Director

Joby Harold

Year

2007

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Going back to my reviews for movies released in 2007 I could only find one instance in which I mentioned a guilty pleasure: P.S. I Love You. I usually avoid movies with bad buzz or that seem like bad choices from the get-go, but sometimes there’s the actor who lures me in, or the premise that proves irresistible. The latter applies to Awake, a movie I’ve just seen which was massacred by the majority of big-time critics except for Roger Ebert. Well, count me in as a believer, here’s another guilty pleasure all right.

Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is a millionaire who runs his father’s company along with his mother Lilith (Lena Olin). Even though he’s been dating Sam (Jessica Alba) for a while now, he hasn’t had the courage to tell his strict mother about it. Clay is also on the waiting list for a heart transplant which his friend, Dr. Jack Harper (Terrence Howard), will perform. When a heart becomes available Clay quickly finds himself in an operating table, but the anesthesia doesn’t work and even though his body is immovable he can hear, and feel, everything that is going on and that’s when he finds out that this situation is the least of his problems.

Joby Harold directed from his own original screenplay which supposedly came from an idea he got after going through an extremely painful kidney operation in which he was always, yes, awake. The result product is a flick with the best intentions which keeps the energy high and the audience guessing right until the end. The story takes a while to get going, but once it kicks off it becomes highly suspenseful and fun. There’s nothing groundbreaking about it, but it accomplishes what it set out to do.

Awake runs 85 minutes complete with credits, which is fairly short by today’s standards. Then again, it feels just right. What’s also amusing about it is how Harold toys with us and keeps bringing on the surprises right until the end. No one is what they seem to be, and there’s more to each character than was apparently present at first. Yes, the movie is full of implausibility, but it’s a popcorn flick, and once you suspend disbelief you can actually have a good time with it.

Another interesting aspect of which I was very afraid of is how Harold would play with the main character being immobilized for more than half the movie. Well, he comes up with a clever idea that could’ve been a disaster, but which is well-handled and actually works. That said, I’m not talking about the voice-over, which I think could’ve sounded a bit more desperate, especially towards the realization of what was going on at first, but which was OK overall.

Samuel Sim’s original score is spot-on and provides the story with just the right atmosphere.

Hayden Christensen has never appeared to me as an especially talented performer and this foray does not change my opinion of him. He does what he’s required to do, but nothing more. Ditto for Jessica Alba, for whom the previous sentence also applies word by word. Lena Olin steals the movie in what could’ve been a one-dimensional character but which ultimately leaves the strongest impression. Terrence Howard is bland, as usual, and completely forgettable. Arliss Howard, Christopher McDonald, Sam Robards, Fisher Stevens and Georgina Chapman co-star.

“Am I supposed to still hear you?”

CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter