Review of Awake (2007) by K J E — 06 Aug 2009

Awake falls under the 'so bad it's almost good' category (please see my blog entry for my personal definition of that categorization). It's absolutely laughable. The plot, basically, is: Hayden Christensen has some rare condition that requires a heart transplant. His fiance'(Jessica Alba)cooks up some elaborate scheme requiring the surgeons to secretly inject the transplanted heart with a drug that will make Christensen die, seemingly of a random, run-of-the-mill complication.

During this film's transplant scenes, there are never more than 4 or 5 doctors and nurses in the OR. I don't mean 4 nurses and 4 doctors, I mean 4 or 5 total! Total! During a heart transplant! Are you freaking kidding? I discussed this factual liberty with a friend in medicine and she informed me that, in the real world, there would be no less than 15-20 people present in an OR at all times during such a complicated, intricate, time-consuming procedure.

This means that, to successfully stage such an elaborate fraud, you'd need--in the least I'm guessing--half the OR team conspiring with you. Realistically, you'd likely need more on board for a legitimate shot at success. And we're not talking about every-day Joe Schmoes easily tempted by financial gain--even by billions (though, realistically, who wouldn't be?).

No, we're talking heart surgeons, cardiologists and various other specialists who make LOTS of money--not billions mind you, but enough so that they'd know better than to try killing someone with a cockamamie scheme like the one proposed in this film--even for billions. One would think there are much, much easier ways to go about faking an accidental death for an insurance payout--even in a sci-fi/fantasy film.

I've got no problem with suspending belief, but Awake stretches the limits too far--at least for me. To each his/her own though; perhaps there's something about sci-fi/fantasy films with plot points involving the medical field that send my 'disbelief meter' into the red. Whatever. If you can overlook the credibility factor, Awake is vaguely entertaining I suppose, but there are much better movies to spend 1:20 on. I certainly wish I'd been watching one of those.