PoochyB’s Flick Reviews

Not sure why I never heard of this movie except from browsing Netflix. About 45 minutes into it, I seriously thought about giving up on it. It wasn’t because the movie was bad. It wasn’t. It was just disturbing. Hayden Christensen (from Shattered Glass and Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars movies) is a billionaire Wall Street whiz. A weak heart renders him into surgery at the hands of his trusted friend and doctor, played by Terrence Howard (from Crash and Iron Man). His girlfriend, and fiance later on in the movie is played by Jessica Alba (TV’s Dark Angel, Fantastic Four, and Into the Blue). Lena Olin (The United States of Leland, Chocolat) plays his mother.

A side-plot here: Christensen and Alba are in love, but Olin is against it. I guess a pretty major theme of the movie is “Mother knows best.”

So Christensen undergoes surgery, but doesn’t go under because the anesthetics don’t work on him. According to a tagline at the beginning of the movie, “Over 21 million people are anesthetized every year, and about 30,000 don’t go under. They stay awake.” It’s a scary thought, but I can’t imagine it to be the way the movie depicts. Nonetheless, very interesting.

There’s a twist, but I’m not going to spoil it here. I’d say the film’s worth checking out. Jessica Alba actually gives a pretty convincing performance here, which is surprising. Terrence Howard is pretty good, as is Lena Olin. I haven’t seen Christensen in enough movies to judge his acting, but it wasn’t bad. The monologues get tiring pretty quick, but I guess they were necessary in this case.

Awake was written and directed by first-timer Joby Harold.

Summer 2008 starts off with a “Bang!” Blockbusters are always interesting. There’s the anticipation. All the hype. The crowded theaters. The box office make-or-break report.

It was a bit different for me…

I happened upon Iron Man on a Saturday night. Me, and nine other people in the entire theater. No, it wasn’t opening weekend. But it was the weekend following.

Robert Downey Jr.’s getting it together. And I’m happy for him. I’ve been a fan since his Ally McBeal days. Actually, before that, since U.S. Marshals (The Fugitive sequel). He was hit-or-miss for a while with Wonder Boys and Bowfinger. But a couple of his latest ones, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Zodiac have been surprisingly enjoyable. I guess he and director Jon Favreau work well together.

Downey’s the slick-talking head of a major U.S. weapons manufacturer. Gwyneth Paltrow (swoon!) plays his assistant. He gets kidnapped by terrorists and has an epiphanic eye-opening. Instead of making weapons that end up in the hands of terrorists, he’ll combat terrorism head-on in his Iron Man suit. Terrence Howard (of Crash) is kind of a military liaison. And Jeff Bridges (who’s been in more movies than I care to recount, but more notably Blown Away, The Big Lebowski, and Seabiscuit) is the bad guy.

If you’re a Marvel fan and have followed the comics since you were a kid, you know the story.

Leslie Bibb (from The Skulls, and TV’s Popular) has a small part as a reporter.

This is the first Jon Favreau-directed film I’ve seen, and I’m looking forward to more. Though his status will forever be placed on a pedastal for producing Swingers.