As Good As It Gets

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Why did I watch this movie? I don't like gore and the basic description of this movie makes it clear that it's about a guy who's in surgery and overhears a plot to kill him (he's in a surgical locked in state where he can hear but can't speak/move)! I told myself they wouldn't show much of the actual cutting. WARNING TO OTHERS: They showed a lot of the cutting of flesh. But let's get past that. It was a decent thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat in a good way once they were out of the surgery room. Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba both give strong dramatic performances.

Awake (2007): Dir: Joby Harold / Cast: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin, Arliss Howard: Intriguing thriller about awareness as Hayden Christensen goes for open heart surgery but doesn't fully render sleep. Paralyzed, he is unable to prevent the procedure and to make matters worse he is a target for murder. Director Joby Harold presents an uncomfortable atmosphere based around a graphic surgery. He is able to immobilize viewers because we can sense the limitations in the victim. Christensen has an out- of-body experience yet unable to warn anyone. He also learns tragic facts about key people in his life and he is unable to protest or defend his position. Jessica Alba plays his wife who awaits the outcome yet conceals a secret. Terrence Howard plays the surgeon and Christensen's best friend who also conceals a secret. Lena Olin has a surprisingly compelling role as Christensen's mother who struggles for answers not realizing that Christensen himself is trying to warn her about a procedure. Most of the doctors are standard cardboard players that present unnecessary clichés. Easily one of the best thrillers in a while this tense and suspense thriller strikes a raw nerve and never revives the audience until the last secret is uncovered. Theme presents the fear of surgery and the hope of recovery without any memory of pain. Score: 8 ½ / 10

"Awake" was an incredible thriller that had me captivated from start to finish. An emotional roller-coaster ride the whole time with plot twist after plot twist. Hayden Christensen excelled in his role of the conscious, paralyzed billionaire philanthropist undergoing heart surgery. Coupled with Alba, you are left mesmerized by the events unfolding in front of your eyes. The impressive directing and acting makes you feel as though you are in the OR with the characters. The only thing in question are the camera angles, movement, etc. they are made to seem as though he is in a dream state. Does it work? I believe so, but others seem to think it doesn't. But that is up to your own preferences I guess.I would definitely recommend. I just wish it was longer, you will understand once you watch it.Be sure to steer clear of spoilers because it will completely ruin it for you.

I saw the advert for this, and I certainly recognised the title, and reading about what may be involved in the plot I was intrigued to see if I would agree with the two stars that the critics give it. Basically Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is a young capital investment firm chief who has been having a secret loving relationship with his mother's secretary Sam Lockwood (Razzie nominated Jessica Alba), and he is unwilling to tell his mother Lilith (Lena Olin), but he has an operation coming up. He suffers from a heart condition, and needs a transplant to be carried out, and he is relying on his good friend, Dr. Jack Harper (Terrence Howard), to carry out the operation, but his mother insists it should be her boyfriend and the more qualified doctor. Before the operation goes ahead Clay and Sam have a secret wedding at midnight, and still brushing off the suggestions for another doctor, specifically the one recommended, Clay is put under anaesthesia, and the open heart surgery begins. As is common is some surgeries with the drug used, Clay finds out that he is actually still awake, experiencing anaesthetic awareness, but he cannot do anything as he is paralysed, but he is able to escape with an out of body experience. As he is still in the operating theatre, he overhears a murder plot, Dr. Harper and two of the other surgeons are planning to inject his heart with a chemical that will cause the heart to reject the body. Dr. Harper has second thoughts about this plan, especially with Sam convincing him to carry on the operation, unaware this plot is going on, and Liliath awaits results. Sam tries to win over Clay's mother, but she becomes suspicious, having found out about the secret marriage, and rooting through her bags Liliath finds out she used to be a nurse, while out of body Clay finds this out too. Clay decides to return to his body and await his fate, while his mother deliberately overdoses so that they can use her heart in the operation, and after this does happen Dr. Harper knows he is probably going to be caught for his murder plot involvement. We find out that this whole scheme was the idea of Sam, as she wanted to get all of Clay's money to pay off debts that she has with colleagues, and even though the operation is successful, Clay refuses to wake up with all that has been revealed to him. Clay is approached by his mother, now in limbo like him, and she convinces him in the end to return to his living body, and gives reasons why he should continue his life, while in the end Sam is arrested after someone grassed her up, and Dr. Harper confirms that Clay did die momentarily, but he is awake. Also starring Christopher McDonald as Dr. Larry Lupin, Sam Robards as Clayton Beresford Sr., Arliss Howard as Dr. Jonathan Neyer and Short Circuit's Fisher Stevens as Dr. Puttnam. Christensen, just like in Star Wars, and partly Jumper, is wooden and dull, Alba is pretty but not all that convincing as a Femme Fetale, and the other stars do not convince you much either, it could have been a really clever film, but the script is flawed by complicated plot turns, the acting is cheesy, and it should be much more sophisticated in the delivery of what should be twists, I was disappointed, it is a daft psychological thriller. It was nominated the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple for Alba and Christensen. Adequate!