"Awake" (2007) - Movie Review

Sometimes when the writers/directors hit a juicy plot, they may run like Archimedes shouting “Eureka” (hopefully not naked). For most of the part “Awake” works perfectly. It is considerably a short movie, which could have been argued in both ways. The shorter version I believe is to move things quickly and when the second act occurs, the aim is to wrap it up soon so that to not make the viewers restless. It is done intelligently and follows in a fast step to step approach, almost. It is because the premise “Awake” sets up promised lot more things than a normal thriller.

We are given details about the concept of “Anesthesia Awareness” wherein a patient might very well be awake due to insufficient Anesthesia or other medical factors. The terror is this, due to the paralytic/muscle relaxants, the patient might not signal the people digging inside him to kindly inform this information. In mind he is awake and that forms the back ground. With a mild read in Wiki, it is said that it is a rare phenomenon and patients might recall pain and more than that, it is the freakiness of being awake in an operating table causes adverse psychological trauma. Clay (Hayden Christensen) spends most in his minds when his surroundings change in diabolique manner. The film does not have time for post traumatic stress disorder.

Clay is in the midst of confusion to tell his mom, Lilith (Lena Olin) that he is been seeing Sam (Jessica Alba) for a year and also is engaged. Added to that he is on the list for heart transplant. Sam is getting impatient by being not recognized and initially when Clay walks out of her car, we believe it is an affair he is conducting. Lilith is over protective and controlling of Clay. Clay is stressed out and he relaxes with his doctor who is more of friend after his first attack, Jack (Terrence Howard). Now every one are connected and that forms the main plot on the essence of the medical phenomenon as the leaping pad.

The first forty five minutes is where the hard work is evident. They managed to construct to form the situation to be poised in a stale mate during operation procedure. The initial couple of events to give a very small picture of the nature of Lilith, Sam and Clay appear out of place but necessary for character study. A film like this depends very little on profound behavioral science but the part I was mildly disappointed was the Clay’s mind experience. Tarsem Singh in his spectacular debut “The Cell” brought the mind world in shocking, explicit, disturbing and illusionary visuals. The freedom of using those is that imagination is boundless in that arena. What anyone thinks to see the pictures, hear the sounds or sense the touch/pain can vary vividly to its property which ultimately frees the director to work on it in without limits. And the same with Michael Gondry’s and Charlie Kauffman’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” which can be compared to Clay’s journey in his mind. But in Kauffman’s it is profound and here it is to connect dots. May be I am complaining too much for a film like this which as it supposed to use those awe factor to pump up the thriller than indie style flick.

Yes there are some flaws and holes in the final moments of Lilith and Clay for the sake of “explanation” to the pay off. So they slightly nudge and bend some rules in the “awake” process and allow couple of transitions to complete the essay with proper defined full stop. The duration of the film can be contemplated. It would have been a great confrontation for Clay and could have been played viciously in a tit for tat fashion. A clever counter plot execution involving the key players would have been another nice ending. But they are happy with the set up and may be the extended version would have killed the momentum.

Debutant director Joby Harold has already been accused of inaccurately portraying the medical mishaps in the movie by the professionals. May be they are right or may be they are wrong but reading mind is still not in existence. Also, the inner journey is not the subject of matter. Like I said, it is a platform for a plot to fit nicely. “Awake” looses its grip in the end but at that phase, the film wants to end and hence audience will rarely look for it. I did but it’s me.