Awake

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

The statistics say about one in 700 people suffer from "anesthetic awareness" and will wake up during surgery. Using this information, the filmmakers of Awake have crafted a domestic thriller that just may end up putting you asleep. A beautiful young wife (Jessica Alba) of a wealthy young man (Hayden Christensen) secretly plots his murder with the aid of a team of surgeons headed by Terrence Howard, where they would perform a risky heart transplant on him that is supposed to fail. The idea is that when he dies the new bride collects a $100 million inheritance, which she will split four ways with the docs. Complicating matters is his mother (Lena Olin), who distrusts Alba completely and is skeptical from the start. But really complicating things is Christensen, who is somehow mentally alert, although in a physically paralyzed state during surgery. In addition to being unable to express the pain he feels, he also overhears plans of his own murder. The whole thing is just a little too preposterous to be taken seriously. How could this medical team actually be doing a major op like a transplant with so little interference from anyone else in the hospital? Also Alba, while always too hot to watch, finds it difficult to be totally convincing as a conniving, manipulative bitch out for cold, hard cash from an unsuspecting little dweeb like Christensen. This is the kind of movie that is actually a lot better if you don't try and think about it. Or better yet, wait until it hits basic cable, which is where this ludicrous drama probably belongs in the first place.