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Awake (2007 film)

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Awake
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoby Harold
Written byJoby Harold
Produced byJason Kliot
John Penotti
Joana Vicente
Fisher Stevens
StarringHayden Christensen
Jessica Alba
Lena Olin
Arliss Howard
Terrence Howard
CinematographyRussell Carpenter
Edited byCraig McKay
Music byGraeme Revell
Samuel Sim
Production
companies
The Weinstein Company
GreeneStreet Films
Distributed byThe Weinstein Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • November 30, 2007 (2007-11-30)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese
Budget$8.6 million
Box office$32.7 million

Awake is a 2007 American conspiracy thriller film written and directed by Joby Harold in his directorial debut. The film stars Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard and Lena Olin. The narrative follows Clay Beresford, a wealthy young man who becomes conscious but paralyzed during heart surgery—a phenomenon known as anesthetic awareness—and gradually uncovers a plot that endangers his life and trust in those around him.

The film was released theatrically in the United States and Canada on November 30, 2007, by The Weinstein Company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It received negative reviews from critics, who criticized the performances (primarily from the leads), direction and editing, but performed moderately well at the box office, grossing approximately $32.7 million worldwide against a production budget of $8.6 million.

At the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards, Alba was nominated for Worst Actress, while she and Christensen received a nomination for Worst Screen Combo.

Plot

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Clay Beresford Jr., a young billionaire, is secretly in a relationship with Samantha "Sam" Lockwood, his mother's personal assistant. Despite opposition from his controlling mother, Lilith, Clay plans to marry Sam and undergo a heart transplant under the care of his trusted friend and surgeon, Dr. Jack Harper. Shortly after a private midnight wedding, Clay is admitted to the hospital for the operation.

During surgery, Clay experiences anesthesia awareness, a rare condition where he remains conscious but paralyzed. While enduring the surgical pain, he has an out-of-body experience that reveals a conspiracy against him. Clay discovers that Dr. Harper and Sam are colluding to murder him by sabotaging the transplant with a poisoned donor heart. Their plan involves injecting the heart with Adriamycin, a chemotherapy drug that would cause the transplant to fail, allowing them to collect a large life insurance payout to cover Harper's four malpractice debts.

Lilith begins to suspect foul play and sacrifices herself by suicide, allowing her heart to be used in place of the sabotaged donor organ. Meanwhile, Sam attempts to cover her involvement, but Harper, overwhelmed by guilt, preserves evidence implicating her in the conspiracy. A new surgical team led by Dr. Jonathan Neyer, Lilith's more competent friend, intervenes and prepare Lilith's heart for transplant, while the police arrest the conspirators.

As the operation continues, Clay's spirit remains in a liminal state. He experiences a final vision of his childhood, during which he witnesses Lilith killing his abusive father, a repressed memory that provides him emotional closure. Initially resistant to returning to life, Clay eventually accepts his mother's sacrifice and allows the transplant to succeed. As the surgeons remove his eye tape, Clay regains consciousness, and Dr. Harper's voice narrates the final words: "He is awake."

Cast

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Production

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Portions of Awake were filmed at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus in New York City. Lowenstein Hall was dressed to resemble a hospital, with the statue St. Peter: Fisher of Men visible in background shots. Additional scenes, including those set in Dr. Jack Harper's office, the cafeteria where Lilith dies by suicide, and the elevator bank, were filmed at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

Reception

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Box office

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Awake was not screened in advance for critics and opened at number five at the U.S. box office during its opening weekend. As of July 11, 2008, the film had earned $14.4 million domestically and $32.7 million worldwide, against a production budget of approximately $8.6 million.[1]

Critical response

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The film received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 23% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 4.23/10. The website's consensus reads, "Awake has an interesting premise but would have benefited from tighter performances and more efficient direction and editing."[2] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[3]

Dennis Harvey of Variety criticized the film's reliance on excessive narrative twists, writing that it "piles on too many narrative gimmicks to maintain suspense or credibility."[4] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter offered a more positive assessment, noting that director Joby Harold created "a quietly ominous tone that never lets up" and that the film relied more on suspense than graphic violence.[5]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three out of four stars, praising its ability to engage viewers despite negative buzz. He wrote, "I did not anticipate the surprises, did not anticipate them piling on after one another, got very involved in the gory surgical details, and found the supporting soap opera good as such things go."[6]

Industry response

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Following its release, the film was criticized by Ontario's Anesthesiologists, a section of the Ontario Medical Association, for scientific inaccuracies related to anesthetic practices. The group took issue with the portrayal of anesthetic techniques and disputed the film's claim that anesthesia awareness affects as many as one in every 700 patients. However, anesthesia awareness advocate Carol Weihrer contested their objections, maintaining that the condition may be more prevalent than official statistics suggest.[7][8]

Accolades

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Award Date of the ceremony Category Recipients Result Ref.
Golden Raspberry Awards 23 February 2008 Worst Actress Jessica Alba (also for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Good Luck Chuck) Nominated [9]
Worst Screen Combo Jessica Alba and Hayden Christensen Nominated

Home media

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Awake was released on DVD in the United States on March 4, 2008, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The Blu-ray edition followed on November 18, 2008, distributed by Genius Products.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ Awake at Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ "Awake (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  3. ^ "Awake (2007) Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  4. ^ "Variety review by Dennis Harvey, posted November 30, 2007".
  5. ^ "Awake: Bottom Line: Sleep won't be an option". Archived from the original on 2009-12-13. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (30 November 2007). "This can't be happening to me!". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  7. ^ Ontario's Anesthesiologists (2007-11-30). "Ontario's Anesthesiologists Criticize the Film Awake". CNW Group. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  8. ^ Mulholland, Angela (2007-11-28). "'Awake' exaggerates anesthesia awareness: doc". CTV News. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  9. ^ "Golden Raspberry Award Foundation". 2008-02-26. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  10. ^ "New DVD Releases March 2008 - Latest Info on New DVD Releases". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  11. ^ Awake Blu-ray. Retrieved 2025-05-11 – via www.blu-ray.com.
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