"Dead Awake" tells of a corporate marketing visionary/maven and insomniac (Baldwin) who sleeps with his eyes open at work by day and hangs out in a diner with some peculiar blue-collar types by night and gets entangled in murder and other mischief. The film sneers at traditional character development while painting an unlikely portrait of human nature on it's untra-hip neo-noir canvass. Somewhat interesting because of it's sharp creative edge, this nominal whodunit is less believable than entertaining. Okay for flick junkies who care more about the "sizzle" than the "steak".
Plot summary
An insomniac wanders the streets at night and ends up at a local deli where life's losers appear to end up, including a nice, although slightly lost young woman and a slightly deranged, apparently homeless man, and a untalkative, dysfunctional cop hangout. On one of the late night forays, the insomniac witnesses a murder. When he tries to report, there is no sign of the murder, but the cops become convinced he is the killer. But wait, that is not the weird part. It seems that the insomniac has a girl friend, who doesn't have a clue that he gets up at night and wanders the city, and a personal assistant, who knows all about his exploits. But it only gets weirder from there as the cops uncover that the murdered man is connected to the man's girl friend.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Rachelle Lefevre as Randi Baum
Michael Ironside as Skay
Stephen Baldwin as Desmond Caine
Maxim Roy as Chaney Streeter
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 900.63 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
R
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Slick but superficial neo-noir B flick.
Reviewed by
Drivel and more drivel .......
Stephen Baldwin can't sleep, but you, the viewer, will have no trouble nodding off. Annoying flashbacks, daydreaming, and over stylized drivel, would best describe "Dead Awake". Having quirky characters on parade, spouting quirky dialog, in a movie that is such a confusing mess, how can you stop the nightmare? Simple, live with the fast forward button, because you will miss nothing, and save valuable time, instead of wasting it on this nonsense. I think the fun house mirror visual effects were the most annoying part of the film, or was it the ridiculous script, or was it the intolerable editing, or was it the dialog drivel? Without any doubt, it was all of the above. - MERK
Reviewed by
Sleek Neuvo-Noir
Stephen Baldwin isn't my favorite of that family. His acting comes off as stiff and unnatural as a life-size stand-up cardboard cut-out. However, he is only half bad in this film, and the story itself is quite intriguing.
This has to be designated as one of those obscure dark little pools of goodness. Oh, it's no masterpiece and, unless you are a fan of the sub-genre of suspense/mystery or noir, this may bore you to tears. But if you are a fan of either, it is definitely worth a viewing Herein lie twists, turns, and a gradually foreboding suspense, which adequately conveys the proper atmosphere necessary to enhance the viewer's enjoyment.
Dead Awake is both clever AND witty, while sustaining at least moderate interest in the engrossing storyline.
The main drawback to this work seems to be Stephen Baldwin, himself. HIs soft-spoken, laid back personality fails to deliver the proper intensity mandated by the nature of the character of Desmond Kane.
Jeff Goldblum would have been a MUCH better casting choice in this instance. Not only is Goldblum a significantly better actor, but his personality would have uplifted this production from mundane to marvelous.
I can't say I loved it, but it does deliver something tangible, although the cinematography of the waking dream sequences were enough to make me so dizzy, I nearly tossed my cookies.
It rates a 7.4/10 from...
the Fiend :.