Wealthy Clayton Beresford (Christensen), stricken with a heart defect, must undergo a transplant to save his life. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and he experiences "anesthesia awareness," which means that he appears asleep but is actually awake and fully aware of everything going on during his operation. Rather than build suspense and tension from such an intense premise, the story's twists and surprises (including an absurd-even-by-horror-movie-standards plot for poor Clay to die on the operating table) pile on ad nauseum, and Christensen is expected to carry much of the movie while flat on his back.
Great Premise, Terrible Follow-Through KHL at 2008-03-24 15:32:02
Anesthesia awareness is still debated among doctors, although the consensus is that it is possible, but to what extent? What could have been a great medical/psychological chiller turns out to be an hour's worth of corny romantic buildup, followed by a plot full of cookie-cut-out villains (where's the black mustache?). It doesn't help that Alba and Christiansen can't really act (as least in this flick). If you like medical thrillers, it's worth watching once, but try something a bit better like Extreme Measures, Coma or Anatomy.