Theatrical Review of Awake

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The problem with "Awake"-from first time writer/director Joby Harold-is that is never settles on a tone. Is this the story of a rebellious young man looking to get out from under his mother´s thumb? Is the a story of redemption for a doctor hit with one too many malpractice suits? Is this the story of a mother learning to let go of the son she clearly adores, though over mothers? Is this a thriller about a terrifying real-world phenomenon known as anesthetic awareness? Or is it a story about a complex get rich quick conspiracy plot? "Awake" is all those things, and more.

Clayton Beresford, Jr. (Hayden Christensen from "Star Wars" fame) is a successful New York businessman. Though young, he controls the acquisition company he inherited after his father died one Christmas night. He romances his mother´s assistant, Samantha Lockwood (Jessica Alba, the Invisible Woman from "Fantastic Four") for a year behind Mom´s (Lena Olin, playing Lilith) back. Clay has a heart condition which has landed him on a donor list. In what seems like coincidence, a heart is available the night he and Sam get married. The hospital trip, under the watchful gaze of Terrence Howard´s Doctor Jack Harper doesn´t quite turn out the way anyone thinks.

There is a concept behind "Awake" which is truly scary: the idea of being paralyzed but not completely asleep during a surgical procedure. And that is the idea the movie was advertised on, yet it isn´t until at least halfway into the picture the concept is visited. By that time, we don´t care about the medical drama and-perhaps-care more about the relationship between Clay and Sam than anything else. Not that the script does a bang up job of developing either character.

Clayton is ripped out of the "rich boy who wants parental acceptance" playbook. He saw his father die as he was dressed as Santa…a plot point which comes back in spectacularly hilarious fashion late in the film when any semblance of reality is pitched out the window. All he wants, then, is his mother to tell him she´s proud of him. Gee, never seen that before. And Lilith is a stock character from a similar playbook called "Overprotective Mom 101." Their level of personal interaction, particularly in one downright icky scene, makes the mind jump to incest no matter how hard it tries not to.

Forgive the stereotype, but I never bought Jessica Alba´s Sam as anything but the whining and pouting girl she is shown to be early on. There´s just a vacant look behind the eyes that works relatively well in the "Fantastic Four" flicks which tells us one thing about the character when the movie wants us to believe another.

"Awake" turns out to be mercifully short, since the central story is already expanded to new and convoluted heights. Even when Clayton´s ribcage is being ripped in two in order to get to his heart, we expect horrific screams to come from him-inside his head, of course. Instead he endures the pain, focusing on Sam on the beach. Seriously? I´m no expert, but a heart transplant has to be one of the most painful things to undergo, especially without anesthesia. Focus on an object and you get through it? Wouldn´t the mind go into shock of some sort?

The script doesn´t mind those small reality issues. Nor does it mind introducing the real story of Clayton´s fathers death for some reason we´re never privy to. Is it designed to show us Lilith will do anything to protect her son? If that´s the case, then we already see that lesson in the final five minutes. If Clayton is supposed to get some kind of parental closure from reliving this memory, then show him coming to that realization somewhere other than the "other world."

What is the "other world?" It´s the place in between life and death which suspiciously looks like the hospital…and Clayton´s house. It´s a place where people congregate and chat over coffee or work through the problems of the universe. Really. I don´t mind spoiling this part of the film since it is so preposterous you won´t believe me anyway. Through Sherlock Holmes-like deduction, Lilith realizes Clayton is in trouble, downs his heart medication and commits suicide so he can get her heart. So in the "other world," they talk, compare notes on the hospital stay and decide Clayton should live.

Give me a break. It´s not bad enough Clay can walk throughout the hospital, listening in on conversations as an out of body experience, but they have to communicate from near death, too? With each other to boot? How does this make any rational sense? Sure, an argument can be made that we don´t know what happens between life and death, but "Awake" never set out to explore that idea. It wants to be about anesthetic awareness. Only, it´s not.

If the script shows narrative incompetence, some of the film making details are just as bad. For instance, as Clay is reliving his life, noticing clues to the pickle he is now in, he (and the audience) should be seeing everything first person, the way he originally saw it. In some scenes, Harold seems to have remembered that. In others, we get two shots, as if we´re an impartial observer watching the events. Which one is it: omniscient third person or first person? As if to add insult to injury, the camera lingers on every character for a seemingly ten seconds too long throughout the film as if to indicate something profound is about to happen. As Dr. Jack wheels Clayton into surgery, the camera stays on him, a wood plank to the head of the audience. Why not just include a subtitle which reads "Watch Jack´s facial expression" and be done with it?

And yes, the hints Clayton overlooked do add up in the end to a conspiracy plot from a certain point of view. They could just as easily been rationalized away by everyone involved. The way questions are asked, statements which are made and the way certain characters stare for a beat too long…the movie wants us to be on our toes for these things even though it never set up the rules of the game. At least in a television show like "Lost," the audience knows to watch everything on the screen. By the time we figure out we´re supposed to be mentally engaged with the movie, it´s far too late.

Does Sam telling a drunk anesthesiologist he doesn´t work at the hospital necessarily mean anything? Not really, since she could have been with Clay previously and met the surgery crew. But to Lilith it means Sam is part of something sinister. Sam mentioning his condition on the subway could have been information from his mother, right? But Clayton sees it-too late-as another tip off.

I´m sure we´ve seen this same exact premise on any one of the dozens of medical TV shows over the years. Either "ER" or "Chicago Hope" or "Grey´s Anatomy" or "Quincy, M.E." has done anesthetic awareness before without the nefarious conspiracy.

It feels wrong not to have mentioned Terrence Howard much thus far. We believe his inherent goodness and morality throughout the film, which makes his complicity in the cover-up just a little bit shocking. But even he can´t breathe life into a lackluster script. A decent acting turn from Christensen is wasted in a movie which, to its credit (I guess) does keep us awake. But only to see how much worse it can get.

"Awake," had it decided to be only one thing, could have been a pleasant surprise. Instead, aside from pretty decent acting from three of the four leads, it turns out to be worthless. Even the opening bathtub sex scene lacks any sizzle. Appropriately, then, the movie rates a 4 out of 10.

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