Saturday, May 31, 2008

Awake (2007)


There is a joke that goes: ‘Doc it hurts when I do this’; Doctor answers, ‘stop doing it’. Corny yes but what if you can’t do anything. What if you can’t stop that pain and it’s your own doctor that is giving it to you.

The backdrop of the story of Awake is a phenomenon called Anesthesia Awareness. The name itself betrays what is wrong with experiencing the phenomenon; when you are under anesthesia you shouldn’t be aware.

Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is the unlucky man about to on the operating table for an open heart surgery – a heart transplant in fact. For transplant patients getting on the table to get a replacement organ is actually a hopeful event except for Clay who became painfully aware (when he shouldn’t) that his heart was going to be taken out.

Awake is not all about a medical anomaly. Clay Beresford does have a life besides having a bad heart – he is rich, handsome; he has a powerful mother and a loving sexy wife. Nice life right? Not entirely as this life will give you the twist and turns of a potentially good story, which I won’t tell you for obvious reasons.

If I did tell you then the potential would be lost as I would have robbed you of the suspense. Furthermore, my choice of the word ‘potential’ comes from not liking the rest of the movie’s elements. Besides the stories’ anesthesiologist the two other things that were wrong are the two lead actors, Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba playing Sam Lockwood.

The two are a great looking couple onscreen but unfortunately they are great only physically. Hayden has a nice face; you can sense the emotion. Physically he did great as Anakin Skywalker, but he has this voice that just made my most hated voice list – Leonardo DiCaprio and Keanu Reeves comprising the rest of my list. Jessica, well, I’d die for a date but I won’t bet my life that she can get an acting award.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend this movie, if only for the reasons mentioned because of Hayden and Jessica. Watching your surgeons would be better if we are to believe the stats at the end of the film.

Lastly, based on experience, thank God for anesthesia that works!!!

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