"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME
Awake | 2007 | R | - 6.7.7
A wealthy young man (Hayden Christensen) who suffers from heart disease and is waiting for a heart transplant, is in love with his mother's (Lena Olin) personal assistant (Jessica Alba) but is afraid that his mother will disown him if they get married. When the young couple elopes, a heart also becomes available and the young man is whisked off for surgery. However, the anesthesia does not put him under and he remains completely conscious while paralyzed and incapable of communicating with anyone; he also realizes that there is something sinister going on. Also with Terrence Howard and Sam Robards. Directed by Joby Harold. [1:24]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - A young man and a young woman kiss passionately, flop onto a bed and continue kissing (we see her in bra and panties); she removes his shirt (we see his bare chest and back) and they continue kissing (sex is implied but the scene ends here).
► A young man seated in a bathtub (his bare shoulders and chest are visible) kisses a young woman (she's wearing a tank top and short shorts), pulls her into the tub, and she sits on his lap and they kiss passionately (it is implied that they have sex); we see them standing up nude in front of a mirror later, preparing for work (their bare backs are visible and the side of her bare beast is also seen).
► A young woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage in several scenes, and a woman wear low-cut dresses and tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes.
► A man imagines his fiancée in several moments from their life together and we see them flirting and we see her seated on a bed nude (her bare back and side of her breast are visible).
► While on the telephone a young woman tells a young man to promise that he'll kiss her all over.
advertisement
VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - Through much of the movie we see a young man who seems unconscious on an operating table, while it seems that another version of him is walking around trying to communicate with people that something is wrong and the anesthesia has not worked: We see a tube being inserted into his throat, and we see a surgery incision, with blood trickling out and the alert version of the young man hyperventilates; a saw cuts bones (we see the whir of the saw and see it inserted in the chest cavity) and we see the rib spreaders opening his chest (a rib breaks) and he grabs his chest and screams.
► A husband and wife argue, he is angry and insulting, he strikes her in the face, he approaches a boy who is listening and someone strikes the man on the back of the head with something hard; he touches his head and his hand is covered with blood and he falls down a flight of stairs and lies dead on the floor at the bottom.
► A man removes the heart from a young man's chest (we see the heart in the man's hand) and prepares to replace it with a new one.
► A doctor describes a heart transplant procedure to a patient who appears fearful; he imagines an incision and we see the blade pull down his chest and open the skin with blood seeping out and we see organs and tissue and a long sutured incision.
► A young man remembers, as a boy, seeing his father wearing a Santa suit and lying dead on the floor after falling down the stairs (we see a man covered by a sheet with one hand hanging out of the side).
► A young man dies on an operating table after his transplanted heart fails.
► A young man sits up on an operating table, pulls tape off his eyes, pulls a tube out of his throat, pulls out IVs and runs out of the room.
► Police chase and arrest a suspect (they push the suspect against the floor).
► Two men talk about killing someone.
LANGUAGE 7 - 25 F-words, 14 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling, 2 religious profanities, 9 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A woman dies from an overdose of drugs (we see her sitting motionless on a chair), and a man snorts cocaine. A man drinks alcohol from a glass then pours another and drinks it, a man drinks alcohol from a flask while on duty, a man talks about another man having alcohol on his breath, and people drink champagne in a few scenes. A young man smokes a cigarette, a woman smokes a cigarette, and a young woman holds a pack of cigarettes in her hand and tells a young man that he should not smoke. A young man is shown taking a prescription drug in a few scenes.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Love, trust, friendship, marriage, betrayal, secrets, parental control, heart transplants, suicide, greed, choices, fear, dealing with grief, malpractice, business deals, death of a parent, living up to the image of a parent.
MESSAGE - Things are rarely what they seem.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
how to
support us
PLEASE DONATE
We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
NO MORE ADS!
Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.
how to
support us
PLEASE DONATE
We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
NO MORE ADS!
Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.