DVD Review: Awake

In this psychological-thriller, Hayden Christensen (“Jumper,” Factory Girl,” “Life as a House”) plays Clay Beresford, a wealthy young teen, with a heart defect, that has an out of body experience, and what medical science calls “anesthetic awareness.” His father, now deceased, built a financial empire. His mother, Lilith Beresford, played by Lena Olin (“The Ninth Gate,” “Darkness”) wants Clay to run the company and focus on himself. She also wants him to get operated on by another surgeon that has more credibility. Christensen must get a heart transplant; otherwise there will be a fatal outcome. He has a fiance, played by Jessica Alba (Sam Lockwood) and Terrance Howard (Dr. Jack Harper) who is his friend and heart surgeon of choice.

Review:
“Awake,” uncovers a plot against a 22-year-old billionaire. The plot is, well I can’t tell you, you’ll have to view it yourself, or read some spoilers online. But, you might not want to watch it after you read my review.

The characters in the film aren’t very deep, and we don’t know much about their past. We only really know one thing, that sometimes people are still awake under anesthesia, due to the explanation in the very beginning of them film.

This film has a rather unique story that seems to be dismantled on screen. It has a similar eerie feeling along the same proportion as the 80s film, “Flatliners,” but not nearly as good. The film tended to loose my attention, but I wanted to find out what was going to happen to the main character.

Christensen and Alba have had better film performances. Alba has demonstrated her well-liked comedic nature in films such as “Good Luck Chuck,” and “Honey.” Christensen does an exceptionable job in “Shattered Glass,” as a journalist that concocted his stories and of course he was memorable in the latest “Star Wars,” movies.

It seems as though many movies out there today, have this kind of “downer” mode. It’s a helplessness feeling, like in “Arlington Road.” The main character is in serious trouble and you want to jump into the movie and help save them. I think the film has a great, twisted concept, but part of the initial spark of the film was missing. A couple more dramatic elements could have been thrown in to make it more entertaining.

Review by Meredith A. Iager

Grade: D+
Official site: http://www.awakethemovie.com/
Buy on Amazon: Awake

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