Awake

One of my biggest fears in life is to be feeling excruciating pain and not be able to express it...which is one of the reasons I am still torn about the value of an epidural (due to the stories I have heard about the needle shooting up instead of down causing the poor woman to feel all the pain of childbirth but not being able to express it). The plot of this movie takes this fear of mine to another level...doctors operating on someone who is completely paralyzed, but also entirely aware of what is happening around him...as well as the pain that he is experiencing. Hayden Christensen is the poor soul who goes under the knife for a heart transplant (of all things! It couldn't just have been a mole removal...that would have been too easy), and I have to give Hayden some props...he was not terrible in this film. I have always compared Christensen's acting ability to such stars as Paul Walker (which is NOT a compliment!), but his acting ability easily rivaled that of his costars in this film. In general, I felt that the plot had some major potential, but the acting was sub-par. When I watch a movie, I want to connect to the characters and feel for their pain, but I was unable to do so in this film (even though I personally should have been more invested in the film due to the specific fears that I have). The good new for this film is that I LOVE an unexpected twist in a suspenseful thriller, and the twist here actually surprised me (a little). There were some aspects that I was expecting, and others that I was not...so good job writers! Finally, an ending that I was NOT expecting! However, due to the poor overall acting, I'm giving this movie 2 pigs.