Review of Awake (2007) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

This is a really gripping movie, which is yet another of the 'not for the squeamish' type movies, if you don't like seeing medical procedures, scalpels, open chest cavities(!) etc. then you should probably give this a miss, although the scenes that include all of that aren't particularly overstretched, shall we say. The concept behind the movie is quite unsettling and the scenes of Clay walking around while he's really still on the operating table are quite spooky. Its pretty chilling to think that such things can happen and indeed the movie starts off with some information, statistics that mention 30,000 people a year suffer from this condition where their awake after having been put under anaesthetic. Of course 30,000 people out of millions means the chances of it happening are slim but watching the movie, the main part of it did come across as quite believable. I would question whether everything that happened would happen the way it did if it were real life (I can't go into much detail or I'd be giving away too much of the story) but the basic concept of being conscious while undergoing surgery is quite believable and it taps in on one of peoples fears - the fear of paralysis, if but temporary (or is it?). At the start of the movie, we see Clay has apparently stuck up quite a strong friendship with his surgeon, indeed he even encourages him to lay on the operating table one afternoon and to hold a scalpel, to get a feel for what was going to happen, warning him about the dangers and the chance of him not pulling through after surgery. Of course, he had been in hospital alot being on the transplant list, so he probably would have got to know those around him but looking back on it, it is a bit creepy to think how hard the surgeon, Dr. Jack Harper, worked to befriend Clay. I named this review the ultimate betrayal as I feel that it really is, at least its a big betrayal for a surgeon to decide to, for their own purposes, purposefully botch surgery and of course that makes it quite chilling, to watch as Clay shouts in protests and even sheds individual tears on the operating table but being unable to do anything physically to change the situation. I suppose its one of those movies that stays with you for a little while afterwards, it could enduce a small bout of paranoia even. Hayden Christensen does a good job portraying Clay, his voice straining to be heard in 'real life' and Jessica Alba also gives a good performance as Clay's newly married wife. The other main character apart from the surgeons in the operating room is Clay's mother, Lilith (played by Lena Olin), who isn't happy with the news she gets from Clay only hours before he's in hospital being prepped for surgery. One thing I found a bit convenient was why the medical team involved with performing the surgery hadn't been vetted somehow, that certainly crossed my mind but I suppose its a fairly minor point. Oh plus I did pick up on the fact that one of the main bad guys is of colour - I don't like to get into race issues but for some reason I did pick up on the fact that the only non-caucasian (or that I remember anyway) in the whole movie, let alone in the medical staff, happened to be one of the main villains, which I felt was perhaps a bit unfair but maybe I'm over thinking that, I don't know.

The movie makes you question those you put faith in, the motives of others and it has some interesting twists which I hadn't seen coming. I thought the ending was perhaps a little rushed but then it had a good impact so maybe it was better being short and sweet - indeed the movie is only about 1 hour and 20 minutes long.

As a tense thriller, yes I'd recommend this movie, as long as your not upset by the odd medical scene/your not too squeamish. The cast are good and the story is quite chilling, unfolding with a good few twists along the way. Its a gripping movie that makes you think, so yes, this is worth a watch in my opinion.