Awake – F

Sometimes I regret seeing every movie out.  This would be one of those cases.  Awake, is written and directed by Joey Harold.  If you haven’t heard of him, it’s because this is his directorial/bad writing debut.  Unfortunately I didn’t walk out, I couldn’t, I was with my German friends for the last night of their visit to the U.S.  If I were watching this film as a foreigner, I’d probably hate American Cinema.

Let’s start from the top.  Hayden Christensen, the wealthiest man in NY, needs a heart transplant.  Rather than use the world’s best, he’d prefer going to his good friend (played by Terrence Howard).  This is the first illogical “plot twist”.  It doesn’t make sense.  No one, in their right mind, would choose a friend (with 4 malpractice suits against him) rather than the world’s best.

Christensen wakes up during the surgery (this is all in the preview) due to a drunk anesthesiologist (Christopher McDonald aka Shooter McGavin).  The result is a bunch of sequences similar (yet far, far worse) than the concept of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine.  Now those audience members who haven’t seen ES, may be entertained by the sequences of Christensen looking in on the present.  This meta technique is maybe the films only intriguing element.

SPOILER ALERT (IF YOU CARE)

“Plot twists” make this film near unwatchable.  The believability factor goes right out the window when Alba, the assistant to the wealthy mom, turns on her fiancee.  Apparently she was a nurse at some point, and wooed poor Hayden with that body of hers.  If I’ve ruined this for you I apologize, but it’s not worth your time.  Mom gives her life (sorry heart) for the son’s mistakes and they all (doctors) go to jail.  THE END

Critique:  Terrence Howard’s agent needs to be fired.  This is the second crappy movie I’ve seen in a row with him as a supporting character.  August Rush may have been a good idea, but the director was ill suited for the task.  I want heads to roll on this one, because I can’t believe it was made into a film.  If you need any further indicators of how bad this movie was, check out the publicity stunt pulled by Alba’s agent.  The woman has been pregnant for a while, yet in the second week of this films release, she leaks to the tabloids to generate “buzz”.   Truly a crappy night spent at the movies.