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MOVIES / ON DVD / AWAKE
Awake

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Awake (2007)

23%
33%
57%
N/A
N/A
N/A
23 %
Reviews Counted: 53 Fresh: 12  Rotten:41 Average Rating: 4.2/10
 
Consensus: Would have benefited from more efficient performances and direction. Awake has an interesting premise but would have benefited from tighter performances and more efficient direction and editing. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 84 mins
Theatrical Release: 04-04-2008
Synopsis:
Writer/director Joby Harold's debut feature, AWAKE, is an unsettling thriller that highlights a deeply troubling medical problem. "Anesthetic awareness" is a rare but dangerously prevalent condition that affects nearly 30,000 individuals a year, in which patients who have been put... [More]
Writer/director Joby Harold's debut feature, AWAKE, is an unsettling thriller that highlights a deeply troubling medical problem. "Anesthetic awareness" is a rare but dangerously prevalent condition that affects nearly 30,000 individuals a year, in which patients who have been put under anesthesia before surgery remain paralyzed while still being aware of their present situation. AWAKE tells the story of Clayton Beresford Jr. (Hayden Christensen), a successful young businessman who lives under the roof of his overbearing mother, Lilith (Lena Olin). Afraid to expose his engagement to Lilith's beautiful assistant, Sam Lockwood (Jessica Alba), Clayton decides to do so when he realizes that, thanks to a rare heart condition, he might not live much longer. His best friend and personal surgeon, Jack Harper (Terrence Howard), supports his decision to take the plunge, and also advises him to get a much-needed heart transplant as soon as a donor is found. After he marries Sam, a donor arrives, but when Clayton is put under to receive the complicated surgery, he is shocked to discover that he's still cognizant of everything that is happening to him. As he fights through the pain to hear the doctors' voices, the more he learns about his best friend and his new wife, adding further trauma to an already horrendous situation. Featuring standout performances from the film's principal cast (Christensen, Alba, Howard), as well as its supporting players (Olin, Fisher Stevens, Christopher McDonald), AWAKE is a tense journey through the mind of an innocent man who's on the verge of losing his lease on life. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin, Sam Robards

Director: Joby Harold
Screenwriter: Joby Harold
Producer: Joana Vicente, Jason Kliot, John Penotti, Fisher Stevens
Composer: Graeme Revell

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 3, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Joby Harold - Director
  • Deleted Scenes - Optional Commentary
  • Behind the Scenes - 1. UNDER THE KNIFE & BEHIND THE CAMERA

Text /Photo Gallery:

  • Story Board to Film Comparison
  • Trailers
  • Theatrical Trailer

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Imagine it's a comedy and pray for the end.

Full Review | Comment
04/25/08 09:04 AM
Matt Glasby
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Less painful than having your chest cut open, but a disagreeable experience just the same.

Full Review | Comment
04/06/08 12:28 PM
James Dyer
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Outlandish, preposterous, contrived,and implausible thriller which happens to be fun if you ignore the fact that it's outlandish,preposterous,contrived and implausible.

Full Review | Comment
05/02/08 07:41 PM
Brian Holcomb
CinemaBlend.com
Ratings Image

Se um ator admirável como Terrence Howard surge tão constrangedor neste longa, que chances teriam pobres aspirantes a intérpretes como Hayden Christensen e Jessica Alba?

Full Review | Comment
04/04/08 09:32 AM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Sex, Lies and Surgical Tape meets I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus!

Full Review | Comment
03/19/08 07:16 PM
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
Ratings Image

much better than i expected

Full Review | Comment
02/28/08 02:12 PM
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
Ratings Image

It becomes more and more fun as the twists pile up -- not entirely convincing, but diverting, like something concocted by a bright eighth-grader.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 03:03 PM
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

Harold sustains an unsettling tone and the graphic depiction of what goes on under the knife is, well, a surgery-phobic patient's worst nightmare

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 02:59 PM
Michael D. Reid
Victoria Times Colonist (B.C., Canada)
Ratings Image

The twist-happy screenplay holds together, and the actors around Christensen are better than they have to be: not only reliable hands like Lena Olin and Arliss Howard, but also a perfectly cast Jessica Alba, smartly playing with and against her looks.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 02:22 PM
Adam Nayman
eye WEEKLY
Ratings Image

Makes one want to assume a state of mind opposite to the film's title.

Full Review | Comment
12/30/07 03:48 PM
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

Unloads a volley of plot twists that'll have you slapping your head in disbelief, provided you haven't figured them out by the end of Act I.

Full Review | Comment
12/16/07 02:30 AM
Scott Weinberg
FEARnet
Ratings Image

While much of "Awake" simply doesn't work, there are just enough things on display that do to make you wish that someone had taken the time to elaborate on them

Full Review | Comment
12/14/07 10:01 AM
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Is this goofy, misguided movie enough to keep you "Awake?"Probably, but only if you're laughing during this unintentionally comical drama.

Full Review | Comment
12/11/07 09:23 PM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
Ratings Image

Engages the viewer from start to finish and boasts a handful of decent performances. Crazy but fun.

Full Review | Comment
12/07/07 03:11 PM
Bob Grimm
Reno News and Review
Ratings Image

Admittedly mediocre, this psychological thriller is nevertheless gripping in its reality-based terror.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/07 03:33 PM
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com
Ratings Image

Awake feels like an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode unfolding in slow motion, with each new revelation coming a reel or two after viewers have guessed it.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/07 01:30 PM
Scott Tobias
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image

A medical thriller with a noggin full of novocaine, this shocker about a botched heart surgery evidently suffered brain surgery to match.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/07 10:19 AM
Jim Ridley
L.A. Weekly
Ratings Image

The movie offers twist upon twist upon twist, with no actual plot.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 05:53 PM
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat
Ratings Image

The most vapid stars of our age, Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba, achieve total vapidosity in this jaw-dropping exercise in preposterosity from newcomer Joby Harold.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 08:47 AM
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image

Waking up during major surgery would be horrible. Waking up during surgery and being forced to watch Awake would be truly ghastly.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/07 04:03 AM
John P. McCarthy
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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