College Publisher Test Site

Issue date: 12/13/07 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: img.buzzcine.com Clay (Christensen) and Sam (Alba) leaving after getting married. [Click to enlarge]

"Suspension of disbelief" is the concept of letting go of what is the norm and believing in what is out of the box. Movies demand this of viewers all the time. The catch about this concept is that you have to be able to suspend your disbelief for either a scene, a moment or an idea being presented on-screen so that the rest of the movie can make sense. In Awake, the not-so-moving thriller by first time director Joby Harold, it's hard for us to keep our disbelief for that long.

Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is a billionaire who has a fiancée (Jessica Alba) that no one knows about, a mother (Lena Olin) who is always hovering over wherever he goes, and a doctor (Terrence Howard) who is essentially his best friend. He has a serious condition and needs a heart transplant to save his life. After declaring his independence from his mom by marrying Sam (Alba), a heart finally becomes available. Now it's time to get to the operating room. A little anesthesia is injected and finally the big twist of the film begins to unravel.

The beginning of the film is bothersome for the mere fact that it seems too unreal. His wife is perfect in every way that her flaws go unnoticed by Clay but can be seen by us. Dr. Harper (Howard) is always talking about trying to separate Clay from his mother and Clay finally does that by marrying Sam. Then on their wedding night, a new heart finally emerges to save the day, coincidentally.

So your "suspension of disbelief" is already at work, having all these "perfect" characters surrounding Clay, but you'll still follow along to see where it's going to lead. Then, the anesthesia that is given to him leaves him motionless but awake. He is aware of everything around him but is unresponsive to physical movement. As he is awake, he begins to see that the whole marriage, friends and procedure are part of a bigger plan. But the way Harold is directing, you might've figured this out 15 minutes into watching.

It's hard to say who's at fault for a script that is so blatantly obvious, either the screenwriters or the director. Fault the director on this one. Not only does he foreshadow ideas too early, like Sam hiding mail from Clay or revealing that Dr. Harper already has three malpractice suits against him, Harold doesn't even focus on the anesthesia part of the movie for that long. Clay is given an out-of-body experience so he can learn about his supposed friends, which lasts for the last good 40 minutes of the film but the pain and suffering from his being chest cavity being opened and having his rib cracked lasts no longer than 3.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools