Every year, one in 700 people wake up during surgery. When they planned her husband's murder, they never thought he'd be the one.
While undergoing open heart surgery, a man's failed anesthetic leaves him completely alert, but paralyzed and unable to tell his doctors
Genre(s): Crime, Thriller
Runtime: 84 minutes
Rating: 6.5/10 (21,748 votes)
Release Date: 30 November 2007
Country: USA
Languages: English, Japanese
Company: GreeneStreet Films
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated R for language, an intense disturbing situation, and brief drug use.
Director(s): Joby Harold
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Producer(s):
Kelly Carmichael - executive producer
Donny Deutsch - co-executive producer
Amy J. Kaufman - co-producer
Jason Kliot - producer
John Penotti - producer
Fisher Stevens - producer
Tory Tunnell - co-producer
Joana Vicente - producer
Bob Weinstein - executive producer
Harvey Weinstein - executive producer
Tim Williams - executive producer
Writer(s):
Joby Harold - (written by)
Cast:
Hayden Christensen - Clay Beresford
Jessica Alba - Sam Lockwood
Terrence Howard - Dr. Jack Harper
Lena Olin - Lilith Beresford
Christopher McDonald - Dr. Larry Lupin
Sam Robards - Clayton Beresford Sr.
Arliss Howard - Dr. Jonathan Neyer
Fisher Stevens - Dr. Puttnam
Georgina Chapman - Penny Carver
David Harbour - Dracula
Music: Samuel Sim
Kelly Carmichael - executive producer
Donny Deutsch - co-executive producer
Amy J. Kaufman - co-producer
Jason Kliot - producer
John Penotti - producer
Fisher Stevens - producer
Tory Tunnell - co-producer
Joana Vicente - producer
Bob Weinstein - executive producer
Harvey Weinstein - executive producer
Tim Williams - executive producer
Writer(s):
Joby Harold - (written by)
Cast:
Hayden Christensen - Clay Beresford
Jessica Alba - Sam Lockwood
Terrence Howard - Dr. Jack Harper
Lena Olin - Lilith Beresford
Christopher McDonald - Dr. Larry Lupin
Sam Robards - Clayton Beresford Sr.
Arliss Howard - Dr. Jonathan Neyer
Fisher Stevens - Dr. Puttnam
Georgina Chapman - Penny Carver
David Harbour - Dracula
Music: Samuel Sim
Posted on: November 1, 2007
April 4th, 2009
twenty-two year old Clay Beresford is a genius of finance secretly inlove of his mother's secretary Sam Lockwood. Clay has a complex,expecting recognition from his mother Lilith Beresford that he is ascapable as his father was, and he needs heart transplantation.
When Clay finds a donor compatible with his rare blood, he requests hisfriend Dr. Jack Harper operate him under the protest of his mother thatwants the famous Dr. Jonathan Neyer responsible for the procedure.
On the eve of his heart surgery, Clay marries Sam and during thesurgery, he experiences an "anesthetic awareness" that leaves hisconscious but paralysed.
Clay witnesses the dialogues in the room and discovers dark secretsabout his surgery.
as stupid as movies can get, this has to be one of the most silliestfilms i've seen in a long time. not because of the premise, it's prettysound, it's the factual errors and the silly mistakes that occur duringthe operation. i'm from a medical background, so to the untrained eye,it wouldn't mean a thing, but to me, it bugged me big time.
as i said before, the story is good, but the script is below par, andChristensen delivers a below par performance. i was cringing at his'thought acting'when he was awake.
Alba i usually endure, but she cannot play a character like this.Howard was brilliant as usual. it's a shame because this really hadpotential to be a nail biting thriller, but they threw it down the pan.
April 30th, 2009
Two problerms with this movie Key plot twist uncovering was that Samhad been at the hospital before, well derr, her Husband needed a heart,I am sure they had visited a hospital once or twice in the past, evenby the meds she was carrying, I would have assumed she was a regular.
Plus twist needed more tightening and this would have been up there inthe shock department with sixth sense etc. Mother appearing to her deadson was almost brilliant, but then her realisation was too laboured andexplanation of the twist has too many holes. It really did seem she hadtime to get a real surgeon in the operating room early and avoidincreasing chances of death. Never heard of the movie till I saw it oncable, Plot holes Married for 5 hours and husband dies and expect torake in 100 million, courts would have a field day with that.He wouldalready have a will as part of a large corporation. Brought her mailalong, what a slip up after a year of deception One doctor for a hearttransplant, its not lancing a boil! Expecting to get a cut, what sortof criminals are they! Hadens voice tone always sounds like he wouldrather be somewhere else
May 2nd, 2009
"Awake" deserves better than its average rating.It's a very impressivethriller ,very far-fetched ,with more implausibilities than you canthink of ,but who cares?Who will call "Die Hard 1,2,3…" realistic? Itis the first time someone has destroyed the hackneyed cliché of theover possessive mother.
You will probably understand the reason why before it's revealed butanyway the prologue almost let the cat out of the bag.The whodunit isnot important ,it's the situation,the horrible situation of the hero onthe operating table which matters.It's one of our hidden fears (likethe one depicted by Poe in "burried alive") to be awake ,when they arebutchering you.This situation is not actually new;remember the dozensof war movies or westerns when they operate on a patient ,not underanesthesia :generally either he is given a bottle of whiskey or hefaints .But it's almost an anachronism in reverse to see that happen inone of the most modern hospitals of the city.
The "tunnel" concept is much more convincing than in Kevin Costner's"Dragonfly" with good scenes between Lena Olin and Hayden Christensen.
Like this?try these…..
"Jacob's ladder" Adrian Lyne ,1990
"Coma" Michael Crichton,1977
May 5th, 2009
My husband and I had been scouting the video store, upset at our lackof choices as we have rented almost everything they offer. Then Ilooked up and saw "Awake". At first we debated getting it becauseneither of us had ever heard of it- no trailers or anything, but theconcept seemed interesting and we went ahead and gave it a shot. Itseemed just like a disturbing, interesting movie to begin with, butnothing special. By the time the movie was over, however, we were onthe edges of our seats, transfixed. When the movie was over we juststared at each other, saying," Wow. That was just wrong." over andover. I won't go into specifics here, but trust me when I say that thismovie is a delight! It stays with you long after the movie hasfinished, and while it may seem to start slow it all comes togetherbeautifully. When it ended I wanted to put it back in and watch itagain. Definitely NOT a waste of your time.
9 out of 10 stars!
May 11th, 2009
I am too much of a sucker to these out-of-body experience supernaturalmovies, but people just can't get them right. There were 3 in recentyears. It got worse each time: Just Like Heaven (good), The Invisible(mediocre), and now Awake (awful). I should have known when the leadswere Hayden Christensen & Jessica Alba, the filmmakers were not aimingfor high art. Granted it did have a thrilling story and interestingsetup, and they were so poorly executed with low credibility that itcould made you feel betrayed by the nice suspenseful thrill and thequeasy gruesome scenes. There were an inexplicably changes in the toneof the characters as if you wonder whether the audience were supposedto be a third person or supposed to be the lead character's point ofview. What kind of hospital was that that the operation take place neara lounge where people can walk in and out of the operating room atwill. Supernatural is one thing. The resolution was over the top.
May 15th, 2009
Entertaining thriller/horror this: 'The story focuses on a man whosuffers "anesthetic awareness" and finds himself awake and aware, butparalyzed, during heart surgery. His mother must wrestle with her owndemons as a drama unfolds around them, while trying to unfold the storyhidden behind her son's young wife'.
Convincing cast, great production design, solid and moralistic storytoo.
What I like is the tale holds the viewer from the start to the end.
Worthy of at least:
7/10
May 18th, 2009
Definitely, I liked to spend my time watching this movie. It makes youfeel all the emotions felt by the characters in a way that brings youinto the movie. You feel pain, anger, sadness and much other thingsthat you just can't feel watching movies that are more pretentious thanthis one.
The plot is very well written; it's unpredictable and that's whereAwake catches you. At the same time, it involves surgery, pain, crime,money, spirituality, trust, and so many other things. The actors, evennot giving their best acting did OK, and Jessica Alba is perfect forthe role.
Surely, I highly recommend this for the ones who are fans of a goodthriller. It is not perfect as it could be, but it's a good way tospend the evening.