Every year, one in 700 patients who go through surgery wakes up during surgery. It's a horrific scenario all by itself. But what if while you're awake, you realize you're being murdered?
At 22, Clay Beresford Jr. (Hayden Christensen) is a billionaire investment wiz kid who is extremely close to his widowed mother, Lilith (Lena Olin). Clay has a congenital heart condition that requires a heart transplant. He becomes good friends with Dr. Jack Harper (Terrence Howard) after Harper saved his life from a heart attack. Clay is also secretly dating his mother's assistant, Sam Lockwood (Jessica Alba).
Against his mother's objection, Clay marries Sam in a rushed ceremony. Then Clay gets a call from Dr. Harper: a heart is waiting for him. The double good news send Clay through the roof and he insists on having Harper do the surgery, even though his mother's friend, Dr. Neyer (Arliss Howard), is a renowned expert in heart transplant surgery.
During the surgery, Clay realizes that he's still fully awake and he knows and senses everything that is going on. He tries to alert the surgeons but, of course, no one could hear him. While listening to the conversations, Clay has the stark discovery that Dr. Harper, Dr. Putnam (Fisher Stevens) and nurse Penny Carver (Georgina Chapman) are in on the "game" -- they plan to kill Clay. But why? (Um, I think his billions would be the first clue). Shocked and disoriented, Clay needs to find a way to alert his concerned wife and mother.
Hayden Christensen (Star Wars I, II, III) looks pale and detached in the role. Even though his character is a wealthy wiz kid, he still looks way too young and inexperienced to pull it off. In addition, Christensen lacks the ability and expressiveness to play the character effectively. His role is too passive and his performance is subpar. It seems that Christensen only has three expressions. Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) is a beautiful actress, but she, too, lacks the acting ability to portray her complex character. There's absolutely no depth in her performance.
The veterans fare somewhat better. Terrence Howard (August Rush) does a respectable job playing the scheming doctor, but Howard is too good an actor to be wasted in this two-dimensional role. Lena Olin (Casanova) has one of the best roles in the film: her "protective mother" part is complex, sympathetic, and active. She makes things happen and we root for her. Arliss Howard (Birth) does a good job as the concerned heart surgeon. The supporting cast does their job in their relatively minor roles: Fisher Stevens (Red Angel) and Georgina Chapman (The Nanny Diary) as the co-conspirators, and Christopher McDonald (Rumor Has It) as the clueless replacement anesthesiologist whose ineptness sets the plot in motion.
The "what-if" scenario of Awake is fascinating that I'm surprised how badly writer-director Joby Harold's vision fails. Awake is his first feature, and it shows. The script is incredibly predictable: you can smell what's coming from three theaters away. The characters are so underdeveloped (the only thing you need to know is that they all want money) and the plot so deliberate that it's like watching a map unfold -- before it does you already know what it looks like and where the road is going. The dialogue is very pedestrian.
There are some intense moments during the surgery when Clay Beresford is awake. The premise naturally lends itself to some gruesome, cringe-worthy scenarios. Yet it's nothing new either: Didn't Stephen King already write a story about that? Nevertheless, the script fails in that Joby Harold has made many clichéd and uninteresting choices. While we can figure out the obvious plot, it seems even more incredulous that someone as smart as Clay (one needs to be analytical, observant, and psychologically in tune to beat the stock market) could be so stupid when it comes to human relationships. Especially when you're a billionaire with a health problem, wouldn't you become more suspicious of people who want to be your "friends"? Wouldn't you want the best care you can have when it concerns your heart?
That aside, the story follows a typical, predictable plot line that masquerades as a psychological thriller. What we get is really a meandering sob story about a guy who is passively made aware of his shortcomings and stupidity, through certain quasi-supernatural flashbacks. More often than not I keep wondering if the story would be ten times more interesting if someone else had written it. I think Joby Harold was too close to the story that he couldn't see the flaws or how predictable it was. Every clue and evidence are presented with a bright "Look Here" sign. It's so deliberately plotted that there are no surprises at all. So when the big "secrets" are revealed, we're left with a "ho-hum, big deal" feeling, coupled with the laughable expression on Christensen's face. I was surprised I sat through the entire movie fully awake.Stars: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin, Christopher McDonald, Arliss Howard, Fisher Stevens, Georgina Chapman
Director: Joby Harold
Writer: Joby Harold
Distributor: Weinstein Comany
MPAA Rating: R for language, an intensely disturbing situation, and brief drug use
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Ratings:
Script – 5
Performance – 6
Direction – 7
Cinematography – 7
Music/Sound– 5
Editing – 7
Production – 7
Total – 6.2 out of 10
Giselle (Amy Adams) is our typical fair maiden in the kingdom of Andalasia who dreams of her true love's kiss. Then Prince Edward (James Marsden) comes and rescues her from a troll, and they fall in love (fairytale-style) and are getting married "the next morning." However, Edward's stepmother, Queen Narcissa (Susan Sarandon) is determined to stop the wedding because once Edward gets married, she will have to give up her throne. Scheming with Edward's henchman, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), Narcissa pushes Giselle into a wishing well into another world where there is no "happily ever after": New York City.
Displaced and confused, Giselle wanders the streets until she meets divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his young daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey). Believing Giselle has a screw loose in her brain (what with singing, dancing, making clothes out of curtains), Robert is about to send Giselle away when her charms melt his hard shell. Despite the fact that Robert is about to propose to his girlfriend of five years, Nancy (Idina Menzel), he is a skeptic about love and the "happily ever after" nonsense. But Giselle is slowly changing his mind.
Eventually, Prince Edward enters the real world trying to rescue Giselle. As Edward's getting closer and closer to finding Giselle, Narcissa schemes to stop it once and for all by killing Giselle with some poisoned apples. Will Giselle find her true love? Will Narcissa succeed?
If the story sounds clichéd and predictable, it is. But that's absolutely the point and charm of this tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy. Disney succeeds in poking fun at itself with such self-referential humor. Anyone who has loved or hated any Disney films would have recognized many inside jokes and self-deprecating jabs in the story.
Amy Adams (
On the contrary, James Marsden (
The script by Bill Kelly (
Director Kevin Lima (
Mostly told in flashback, the story tells of a poor telegram worker named Florentino (Bardem) who falls madly in love with a beautiful girl, Fermina (Giovanna Messogiorno). Florentino eventually wins her heart by sending her love letters, and Fermina agrees to marry him. Unfortuantely, her widowed father Lorenzo (John Leguizamo) forbids Fermina to see Florentio again; he wants her to marry well. When she defies him, he takes Fermina away for a few years. Florentino is heartbroken but continues to send Fermina telegrams. He wishes to reunite with Fermina once she returns.
A few years later, Fermina returns and is all grown up. However, she rejects Florentino as nothing but a "ghost" to her. Despite that, Florention still believes Fermina is the woman for him, even after she marries distinguished doctor Juvenal (Benjamin Bratt). While their lives may have gone two separate directions, Florentino still believes his destiny lies with Fermina, and he waits for her until one day her husband may perish.
Javier Bardem (
The largely foreign cast lends a certain authenticity to the production, which makes the casting of Latino-American actors such as Benjamin Bratt (
I understand that it's impossible to adapt Márquez's extraordinary novel to the screen. But I suspect that much of the beauty of the novel is in its historical and cultural richness; the love story would almost seem secondary. Unfortunately, what transpires into a script by Ronald Harwood (
The biggest problem is that we can't identify with the two main characters. The hopelessly romantic Florentino comes off as a cry baby. Even with Bardem's skillful portrayal, Florentino is annoying, not to mention a creepy stalker. I can't remember how many times I said, "Get over it already." There's eternal love, and then there's creepy obsession, especially when a woman has already rejected you once too many times. On top of it, Florentino turns his obsession with Fermina to one with sex -- at one point, he boasts to a protégé for having sex with over six hundred women, and he causes a married woman her death because of the affair. Then later he tells Fermina that he's kept his virginity for her. What a scoundrel!
Furthermore, we're not allowed to experience why Florentino should be forever in love with Fermina, because she comes off as a cold, distant, ungrateful bitch. As beautiful as she is, she just doesn't exude warmth or kindness toward anyone. She's outright mean to Florentino. We are not allowed to go deep in her heart and see why she makes those choices. We're only left with one quote -- "You must learn to find happiness without love" -- to summarize her motivation. It becomes difficult to root for these two characters when you stop to care about them as individuals.
Director Mike Newell (
The story follows three separate but remotely linked threads that happen simultaneously within an hour, at different places in the world. In Washington D.C., veteran reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) is granted an exclusive interview with Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise). She has no idea what the Senator wants from her. In fact, Irving reveals to Janine that a new military strategy has been deployed as they speak: small special units are sent to capture a strategic high ground in the Afghanistan mountains. Irving wants Janine to write a feature on this news, promising this new strategy will finally win the war. Janine, however, is more than skeptical.
Meanwhile at UC Berkeley, CA, Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) summons student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield) into his office. Malley regards Todd as one of those students who have great potentials, but are slacking off because they stop caring. Malley tries to knock some senses to Todd by relaying the story of two juniors, Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Peña) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke), who postponed their education and joined the military because they cared and wanted to do something.
And in Afghanistan, the special unit operation fails when their chopper is hit by the resistance. Rodriguez falls out and Arian follows. Waiting for rescue, the men face the approaching guerrilla force with severe injuries, no shelter, and limited ammunition. Their only hope is for the military to find them before the enemy does.
The three leads are all good actors. Meryl Streep (
In contrast, Michael Peña (
The screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan (
To his credit, Robert Redford keeps the three threads focused and the characters at center stage. Unfortunately, there is just not enough dramatic tension to carry the film through. Two-thirds of the film is more philosophical musing than plot. This may have worked as a play, as the dialogue is one of its strengths. However, as a film, the story doesn't really go anywhere and it feels manipulative.
There's a whole lot of preaching, even for a message movie, and moralizing. It seems very clear that Redford and the filmmakers have already made up their minds and they're trying very hard to make the audiences see their point of view. There's nothing wrong with that: we artists all have our particular points of view. Still, the characterizations from the slick Republican senator to the smarmy undergrad all manipulate the audiences into agreeing with that point of view, leaving no room for real debates. While relevant, the film aims at being a roaring lion, but ends up being a quiet lamb.
Barry Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) is a bored honeybee that, upon entering the work force, is terrified by the idea that he's going to be stuck doing the same job for the rest of his short life. Seeking adventure, he briefly joins the rank of the "Pollen Jocks" and spends a day in the human world. There, he meets beautiful human Vanessa Bloom (Renée Zellweger), a kind florist/environmentalist who would not even hurt a mosquito. Barry falls in love with the human against the rules, skirts his duties, and becomes ostracized by his peers.
Then Barry discovers that humans have been keeping bees in horrible conditions, drugging them, and "stealing" honey from the bees. This becomes Barry's cause and he vows to take on the humans and get back the honey. His plans soon backfires as the bees find no reason to work anymore.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld (
Not to mention that, despite the huge cast of voices, Bee Movie is basically a one-man show. The whole story hinges on Barry's story line. Everyone else, including Renée Zellweger (
The huge cast also includes Chris Rock as a mosquito, Kathy Bates and Barry Levinson as Barry's parents, Oprah Winfrey as Judge Bumbleton. Other cameos include Larry King, Ray Liotta, Sting, Megan Mullally, Rip Torn, and Michael Richards.
Written by Jerry Seinfeld and his team, the script boasts an incoherent plot that is schizophrenic even for a kids' flick. It's not that it's difficult to follow the story -- it actually has a single thread that focuses mostly on Barry the bee -- but the plot jumps from one thing to another, almost on a whim. It has the attention span of its target audiences: children aged 5 and up. The jokes and sight gags come fast and furious; while there are a few genuine chuckles, the jokes just aren't that funny. Jerry Seinfeld's signature brand of dry, irrelevant humor seems to be amiss here; instead, he's following DreamWorks' lead in dumping more in-jokes and pop culture references in the vein of 
Don't get me wrong. The movie is probably a delight for the kiddies. Bright with primary colors and shapes, the animation is exciting and pleasing to the eyes. The frantic pace and slapstick actions definitely would please the youngsters. I give them kudos for not including any bathroom or burp jokes. There's a huge logic leap, however, that may be difficult for the adults to fully enjoy it: Talking bees? Bees that wear sweaters and drink coffee? It is fine if the film is set entirely in a humanized world of bees, but when you mix the bees with the human world, you've got a problem with suspension of disbelief, even for a cartoon. Older children who have studied insects may find the story incredulous as well -- there are a lot of misinformation and inconsistencies, thus diluting its environmental messages.
So, while the film is entertaining for young children, it is a huge disappointment considering how much promotion Jerry Seinfeld and DreamWorks have put forth. It's not a complete disaster, but