Awake

Ressources: IMDb * Wikipedia

The premise: Guy under anesthetic is not fully under. While under surgery he finds out someone wants to kill him.

Directed by: Joby Harold

Actors: Terrence Howard, Jessica Alba, Lena Olin, Hayden Christensen, Fisher Stevens, Christopher McDonald, others

Review: Aside from a few jittery moments when the surgery is being performed, there's not a whole lot of energy. Christensen has always been wooden, with the one exception being his film with Kevin Kline, Life as a House. Jessica Alba is merely a pretty face, and cannot convey the malice inherent in her character. I've always liked Lena Olin. Terrence Howard is his usual "guy in a hard place but trying to be decent" self, similar to other roles.

While there's an opening factoid about anesthesia awareness, and the device is interestingly performed, there is very little suspense in the movie. Unless you weren't aware of the trailer, or the poster's dramatic dark tone, you'd expect something bad to be coming. In many movies, it's a buddy, or a girlfriend, or a seemingly throwaway character introduced early on but then brought back with a "strange revelatory twist". In this case, it's seemingly all three. But instead of going for the cliche'd "out to get his money", they're in the "out to get his organs" business.

Final analysis: Dry. Not suspenseful. See-through from about 10 minutes in. And we don't need to see close-ups of the pores on Christensen's face again.

Score: Bad