When a newly married young man undergoes a heart transplant he suffers from a rare condition called "˜anesthetic awareness.' Basically he comes paralyzed but remains awake, fully alert and able to feel everything. Unfortunately he is unable to warn the doctors of his condition and therefore must muster the courage to withstand both the pain and the shocking revelation of events that begin to take shape around him. Unable to move he must somehow piece together the clues and realize that a new heart might be the last thing in the world that he wants or needs.
Suffering from immature dialogue, no chemistry and a less than thrilling voice over, Awake does nothing to entice its audience and eventually ends with a loud thud.
The film's most obvious miscue was that of its casting. Christensen and Alba share not an ounce of chemistry as their scenes come across as both awkward and forced. Throughout the film's entirety Alba seems to be confused as to what emotions she is suppose to display and Christensen has never really had a strong acting sense and because of this the film struggles miserably. But now that I think about it, neither actor is able to hold their own when alone on the screen so I guess you can't really expect them to work well together.
However, all the blame can't be placed on the two leads, mainly because they had absolutely nothing to work with. The story was bland, uneventful, and when something big did happen the intensity was over in a matter of seconds leaving the audience more bored than entertained.
But I do have to say that the film does contain a decently clever twist. Unfortunately it was easily foreseen, becoming more obvious as the time passed and therefore lost a lot of its appeal. Nevertheless there was a twist and as long as you are easily confused then it will be good for you. Just don't expect the twist to save the film "“ it doesn't.
In the end the film is nothing close to entertaining or suspenseful. Save yourself the money and wait for this one on cable.
