Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Awake Blu-ray Movie Review

“Clay, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.” “Do I?”

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater July 21, 2009

It’s a terrifying premise. Imagine you’re strapped down on an operating table, paralyzed by anesthesia but still conscious and aware of everything going on around you. What would your thought process be like as the surgeon’s scalpel slices cleanly through your chest? Would your consciousness muster a silent scream while your ribcage is pried forcibly open? Could you will yourself into a state of mind-over-matter endurance? This is the core conceit of Awake, a psychological thriller by first-time director Joby Howard. The condition, known as anesthesia awareness, is a real-life surgical possibility that reputedly affects 1 in every 700 patients. Granted, Awake’s medical extremities represent a worst-case scenario—feeling pain is an extremely rare event—but the film uses its fear mongering to full effect, leading one of the producers to claim that “Awake does for surgery what Jaws did for the beach.” I wouldn’t quite go that far—surgery’s already a bummer, and no one looks forward to it like a trip to the ocean—but the film does instill a creeping dread at the thought of “going under.” Unfortunately, the film never reaches the peaks of terror implied by its premise. If you think a plot hole is a freshly dug grave, you’re right, and Awake can’t seem to sidestep the pitfalls of medical inaccuracy and sheer ridiculousness.

I did this once to my brother's eyelids, and he ended up pulling out half of his lashes.

The story circles around Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen), a 22 year-old, Richy Rich bajillionaire who has inherited his father’s NYC-based investment capital firm. Despite running a multi-billion dollar organization, Clay still has to fend off the protective urges of his overbearing mother, Lillith, played beautifully by The Unbearable Lightness of Being’s Lena Olin. Complicating matters, Clay is secretly dating his mother’s assistant Sam (Jessica Alba), and the two have hush-hush, tentative plans to elope. Clay suffers from an unnamed heart disease and he’s got big time hang-ups about filling his father’s shoes and living life to the fullest. However, after a heart-to-heart talk with Dr. Jack Harper (Terrance Howard), his best friend and surgeon, Clay is convinced to wed his fiancé post-haste, and the marriage is performed later that night. Right before some celebratory, honeymoon-style lovemaking, Clay is notified that, after months on a waiting list, his donor heart has finally arrived at the hospital. Sex and a new heart —what an awesome night! The merriment is short-lived, though, and trouble ensues. Lillith doesn’t trust Dr. Harper—he’s got a few pending malpractice suits—and wants the surgery to be performed by her friend Dr. Nayer (Arliss Howard). Clay objects, and the procedure is carried out as planned. Seconds after being paralyzed by anesthetics, Clay realizes that he can hear and feel everything.

To reveal any more would spoil the plot, but suffice it to say that all is not as it seems, and the narrative makes more than a few hairpin turns and corkscrew twists. The film ultimately becomes a mash-up of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, as Clay must travel backward through his memories in a kind of out-of-body experience to unravel the clues and figure out exactly what’s happening to him. He books it through the corridors of his consciousness, noticing previously overlooked details and slowly putting the pieces together. It’s definitely a been-done-before gimmick, but it serves the plot fairly well, and it’s certainly better than the alternative—Clay lying motionless on the table while his inner narration screams in pain for 90 minutes. Although, expectedly, there’s some of that too. And honestly, Awake is this close to being a decent little low-budget thriller. The direction by first-timer Joby Howard is visually acute—he’s got a keen eye for framing and the compositions look far more studied that what you’d expect. The acting too is better than most genre offerings. No one will claim Hayden and Jessica to be the best actors of their generation, but they each turn in acceptable performances, particularly Alba, who proves once and for all that she can handle a role that requires her to be more than just a sexy, smiling, cardboard cut-out. The film even makes one or two turns that I flat-out didn’t see coming, so it at least kept me on my toes in that regard.

Awake stumbles, though, into plot holes that threaten to swallow the film altogether, and trips up on several moments of utter ridiculousness that rob the film of any gravity it previously established. As you might expect, surgeons and anesthesiologists have been especially hard on the film, pointing out sundry inaccuracies that even untrained eyes will catch. Is it realistic for a heart transplant to be performed by two doctors, an anesthesiologist, and a nurse? Aren’t there usually, like, 10 people in the operation room, making sure everything goes smoothly and ensuring some sense of accountability? The medical blunders are too various to name. How about Clay’s character then? He’s not freaking Bruce Wayne, and I simply don’t buy that a 22 year-old kid would be helming a massive corporation. When he meets with some Japanese investors, and actually starts speaking to them in Japanese, I just about lost it. Who is this kid? Perhaps my favorite gaff is when Sam tells Clay that, because of his heart condition, he shouldn’t be out in the rain, even with an umbrella. Yet, the very same night, he’s apparently capable of vigorous, enthusiastic sex. So, let’s see, your heart will start skipping beats because of the rain, but it doesn’t thump wildly out of control at the prospect of sleeping with Jessica "Sin City" Alba? Get your facts strait man! These are just a handful of examples, and if I could elucidate more of the plot without spoiling anything, I could rattle off ten or twelve more. While Awake boasts a terrifying, skin-crawling premise, it ultimately wastes it with a series of unsalvageable blunders that will have you on the edge of your seat—in laughter though, not tension.

Awake Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I was pleasantly surprised by Awake's 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer, as it gives a crisp, hyper-real image that exhibits no compression artifacts or other transfer-related issues. Titanic cinematographer Russell Carpenter mans the cameras, and he gives each section of the film a distinct and vivid tonality. The pre-surgery sequences are shot in warm, autumnal hues, with hot highlights and an occasionally yellow color cast. Hospital hallways are stark and white— there's no greenish fluorescence here—and the operating room pops with the blue tones of the walls and the doctor's scrubs. Black levels are tight, shadow delineation is good, and the image displays a commendable level of sharpness, particularly in clothing texture and facial detail. Topping it off, a thin layer of cinematic grain adds some warmth, and keeps the look from becoming too clinical. While there aren't any huge, you've got check this out in HD moments, this is an all-around great transfer that suits the film's intentions.

Awake Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Awake comes equipped with a TrueHD 5.1 surround track that is dynamically stable and occasionally impressive. For the first third of the film I was wondering if the rear speakers of my home theater set-up were going to get any action besides some quiet, bleeding ambience. Thankfully, when Clay's surgery begins all medical hell breaks loose, filling the sound field with screeches and screams, woozy pans and reverberating voices. There's some clever sound design during the surgery, but the mix for the remainder of the film is fairly quiet and subdued. Voices are well prioritized, with a full, clean resonance, and from the clear and compact bass to the high-end clinking of medical instruments, the audio spectrum is hefty and well-defined. Like the video quality, this TrueHD track serves its purpose, even if it's not consistently engaging or exciting.

Awake Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commentary by Writer/Director Joby Howard

While first-time director Joby Howard does seem genuinely knowledgeable about the ins and outs of filmmaking, this track is a bit too dry and quiet, filled with procedural details that are sometimes obvious and little remarks that illuminate nothing, like "there they are, brushing their teeth and shaving in the morning." The track could use some enlivening by one or two of the principal actors, but as it stands, this commentary isn't worth your time unless you're a big fan of the film.

Under the Knife & Behind the Camera: The Making of Awake (SD, 13:13)

Most of this featurette is concerned with Joby Harold, as a first time director, and his experience making the film. There are some interesting tidbits—the cast went to see an open heart surgery, the idea for the film came out of a painful experience the director had with a kidney stone, and we even get to see Terrence Howard eating a Slim Jim. Most importantly, the director makes it very clear that the film's depiction of anesthesia awareness is "the worst case scenario." This is standard EPK stuff though, and the actually interesting parts are surrounded by gushing, let's pat each other on the back style comments.

Deleted Scenes (SD, 9:40)

There are seven deleted scenes—all rightly cut—including one with the anesthesiologist running down the hallway of the hospital in a grim reaper costume. All of the scenes can be viewed with optional commentary by director Joby Harold.

Storyboard to Film Comparison (SD, 8:45)

Fairly self-explanatory. Storyboards are shown at the top of the screen and scenes from the finished film are shown on the bottom.

Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:21)

Awake Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Though he makes more than a few mistakes, it's clear that director Joby Howard has some innate talent, and I'm curious to see what he'll try next. Awake falters too often to be any more than halfheartedly recommendable, but it does sport great picture and sound, and the premise alone makes it worth a cautious rental. If you're at all squeamish though, I'd steer clear of this one —a friend who watched the film with me had to leave for a glass of water at one point.