Awake

Awake stars Hayden Christensen as Clay Beresford, who played Anakin Skywalker in the last Star Wars trilogy and more recently in the mis-fired popcorn action movie Jumper. The good news is that his acting is getting better and he's starring in more diverse and interesting roles.

In his latest he plays a heart transplant patient that suffers from "anesthetic awareness". This is when the patient doesn't receive enough analgesic to prevent consciousness and is either awake or wakes up mid-surgery. What is interesting is that this happens to about 20-40,000 people every year in America and 40% feel the pain of the operation, 92% experience panic/anxiety and 70% experience lasting psychological symptoms.

Naturally, this being a film, there is more than just this horrible situation happening to the character in question and this takes place in and around the unfolding drama in a series of cut-scenes to other characters and flashbacks regarding the poor bedfellow.

Unfortunately not much can be said without spoiling the plot, suffice to say that it is a watchable drama/thriller worthy of renting and, more amazingly, shows that Jessica Alba can act, playing the role of Clay's love interest and it's hopefully a pivotal time for her to ditch big-budget action films for a more mature career. It also showcases a solid, if uninspiring Terrance Howard as Clay's surgeon which just about sums this film up.

A first-time writer/director role by Joby Harold indicates that whilst it might have been a better film if handed to someone else, it's a good start to a promising career.

I would give this film 6.3 countdowns from 10.

Official Site for Awake