Review by All Movie Guide
Awake is one of those psychological thrillers whose existence is justified merely by the fact that no one has made this exact movie before. (That same fall, a similar example of a first-timer came out --
P2, the stalker-hostage story set in a parking garage). But Awake has something else going for it, which defies its many cheesy concessions to genre norms. Namely -- and this doesn't quite qualify as a spoiler -- almost none of the characters end up quite who you thought they'd be. Awake sets up the acquaintances of
Hayden Christensen's heart transplant patient in such broad strokes -- the black best friend, the adorable new wife, the domineering mother -- that it's a repudiation of those clichés when they behave out of synch with expectations. While that's refreshing, it's not quite enough to give Joby Harold's film a full recommendation. Dream sequences keep Christensen up and walking around for the parts when he's sedated, but he does have to do a fair amount of acting with just his voice. And simply put, he's overmatched by that task. It's not fair to contrast his performance with that of
Mathieu Amalric in
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, because the movies are so different in scope and subject matter. But both performances are essentially cerebral, and Christensen just doesn't have the depth to go those places. As a result, the horror of witnessing your own surgery, which should be a slam dunk cinematic chiller, just doesn't resonate enough. The acting in general is Awake's real shortfall, as it also features a typically uninspired performance from
Jessica Alba and a phone-it-in from the talented
Terrence Howard. Harold's script is not particularly elegant, but it does have a basic immediacy, and it should be brisk enough to keep most viewers "awake." ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide