Feeling the pain

>> The drugs don’t work for Hayden
Christensen in the lousy thriller Awake

SHLOCK TREATMENT: Terrence Howard,
Christensen and Jessica Alba

by MARK SLUTSKY

Awake has an idea. It’s not the greatest idea, and the movie doesn’t make particularly good use of it, but it’s in there, and I guess that’s something. It’s got a concept that might have made for a decent thriller, but it doesn’t really know what to do with it, and ultimately the film’s one narrative trick doesn’t even really have any bearing on the story.

Written and directed by first-timer Joby Harold, Awake’s main gimmick is that the protagonist, played by Hayden Christensen, is awake but paralyzed as he undergoes heart transplant surgery, which is pretty awful, though he does manage to overhear a murder plot against him. Lest you think such a thing is far-fetched, sober opening titles inform us that of the 21 million people who go under general anaesthetic every year, a full 30,000 don’t actually have their senses deadened, and feel every last stitch and suture.

Christensen plays a wealthy young banker conducting an affair with Jessica Alba behind the back of his controlling mother (Lena Olin). He also suffers from a heart condition, and is awaiting a heart donor so that his doctor buddy (Terrence Howard) can operate on him. When the call does come in, Christensen finds out to his dismay that he’s not quite falling asleep as planned—and that certain people have other plans for him.

The whole awake-during-surgery thing is so unpleasant that it could almost make for a good shlocky B-movie; it almost sounds like a story from a ’50s-era E.C. comic. Even the press materials for the film warn, “Awake may not be suitable for those about to undergo anaesthesia for surgery” (yeah...thanks).

Awake is shlocky in a different, far less fun way, as Christensen narrates his way through the surgery, walking through tastefully-lit flashbacks and yearning for his girlfriend. And when Christensen starts clutching at his chest and howling in pain, it’s really pretty hard to take. The subject matter is frankly so horrifying that it demands to be done in a gory, over-the-top way, or not at all. And while the idea of overhearing your own murder being discussed might be the kernel for a decent thriller, this isn’t it.

Awake opens this
Friday, Nov. 30

>> Movie Listings