Awake (2007) – 6 Points Why It’s a Good Movie
Awake is a drama-thriller that will keep you engaged till the end.
There is only one thing to remember: to stay awake because every little detail around us can make a huge difference in our story.
The movie starts with a special note. Every year 20 million people get anaesthesia. For around 30,000 of them, it doesn’t work, and they remain awake. Those patients can hear everything around them and feel the pain of the surgery.
They can’t move, can’t scream, can’t act. The unlucky victims need to wait and suffer in the tragedy of those moments.
Awake – The story
A wealthy young man needs to manage the business created by his dead father. And he tries to do it with humanity and generosity. But his heart suffers and, after he risked his life, the only chance to survive is to have a transplan
Unfortunately, even for a wealthy person to find a new heart is not simple. The time is ticking, faster than his weak heart. Clay, our protagonist, finds support in his beautiful girlfriend Sam. She is a regular girl, not rich yet. And Sam is not even very welcomed by Lilith, Clay’s mum.
Finally, the compatible heart is ready for the transplant, and the surgery becomes the most crucial moment of Clay’s life. He remains a victim of the anaesthesia awareness syndrome and, during the surgery, he will discover a lot of shocking information about his life. Nothing will be the same again.
- Why?
- What is going to happen?
- Will Clay survive the surgery?
- What will remain of his life?
Awake – Analysis and insights
We have all the ingredients for an engaging thriller. A lot of secrets and mysterious characters. Will the movie delivers its purpose? We have some insights to share with you.
1. The appearance of the reality
We will learn that any little details of the reality around us keep a piece of the truth about our lives. Sometimes the answers we are looking for are so closed that we are fools not discovering them.
Will you be able to catch any essential details on the scene?
2. The value of friendship and trust
Clay teaches that friendship is to give your heart to your friends. In this case, literally. He prefers his friends to the best doctor available for his surgery because he trusts him. And he puts friendship in front of his life. And he does it, even knowing that Dr. Harper has four malpractice suits against him.
Maybe we can’t say the same for his friend Dr Harper, but his ideas and plans will frequently shake during the events. Probably, because there are things more important than your personal success.
There is a crucial dialogue when Dr Harper says that he is not Clay’s friend but his doctor. Perhaps, they don’t see friendship in the same way. But he will remember Clay to live each moment of his life, marry his girlfriend, and care about his memories because he won’t have much more time to live.
Is this what friends are about, right?
The easy money problem
The desire to become rich is sometimes more significant than any part of morality.
Easy money attract everyone.
- But at what cost?
- Are more important money or principles to you?
This question will let you reconsider the movie and your life because the film teaches something in the end.
4. The problematic role of love
Although this is a drama-thriller, there is a lot of love on the scene.
The pure one expresses by Clay’s mum, ready to do everything for his son. And, fortunately, this time is not money the protagonist.
We witness Clay’s love for Sam, the only idea that let him survive the agony of an awakening surgery. The pure beauty pictured by Clay in her face. Love becomes the strength that let us go over our limits.
- But is love an illusion?
- Is it just our idea of that, or is it possible to experience it as we dream about this?
Define love is a challenging task that no poet universally did. But the film give us some ideas of this beautiful emotion.
- Love is trusting your friend for the surgery instead of the best doctor.
- It’s giving everything to the people you care about, no matters the terrible consequences you need to pay.
- Love is to marry your girlfriend in a moment because we don’t know how much time we have left, and that we live of memories that not even money can buy.
- It’s to be available anytime for the people we care.
Love and money are the two words that move our world and our movie.
5. The critical presence of lies
If love can be an illusion, lies are definitely a presence in our days. But we discover two different types:
- the infamous one that destroys all the beauty around us;
- the “good one” that wants to protect us from the cruelty of our reality.
Of course, we can’t say if a lie can be good or not, but we understand that it’s something that consumes people inside, hiding the joy of the truth.
6. The paradox of the anaesthesia
The surprising news that the movie provides at the beginning about anaesthesia awareness plays a critical role in the film. What becomes more shocking is that Clay will clearly see the truth around his life while “sleeping” during the surgery.
Although the closed eyes, he will see and hear a lot of shocking information about his story. And nothing will be the same again.
It’s genial contraposition and, even if the pain of the surgery should be terrible, perhaps the facts he will find out could be even worse.
Is Awake a good film?
It is if you don’t consider some surreal situations, like the surgery scene. Or people able to suddenly appear in the moment of needs and bring order to the chaos.
But this is a film, and there is fiction. What really matters are:
- The intense moments we are going to live.
- The beautiful emotions we are going to experience.
- The lovely principles that transform our characters actions.
- The shocking twists of a reality that we are not always able to understand.
- The engaging parallel moments when Clay is in his bathtub, and then impossible to move, in the same position, on the surgery room.
- The great metaphor of the heart. Clay needs a new one to restart his life, away from the pains of the lies living forever in the old one
And when a movie delivers all of these points, it means that it’s a good one.
Our final rating for Awake is
8/10
A special mention goes to Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba for their incredible performance.
Where you can watch Awake
The movie is currently available on Amazon Prime Video, but check this link to see where you can watch it in your country.
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