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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sadly Over-hyped

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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

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

I was riveted to the screen watching this movie. It has a special ambiance and quirky quality which reminded me of David Lynch's efforts. Granted the plot gets a bit contrived and murky at times, but I didn't feel it detracted from the overall experience. The quality of the cinematography, the playful reeling out of the plot through time-adjusting edits, and the consistency of the actors' characters made it a special film. One commentator called Baldwin's character zombie-like, but that may have missed the mark. The key character is supposed to be exhausted, at the edge of sleep, and befuddled due to his insomnia. Baldwin played it perfectly. There are a lot of really fun moments in this film, and I might note that it includes one of the most sensual screen kisses ever (notably, both actors were fully clothed). If the plot had received a little more fine-tuning, I would have rated the movie even higher.

...and somewhat believable entertaining plot devices!I came across this film on my DVR a few days after combing late night TV for zombie movies (by virtue of the film's name)... And though it has less to do with the flesh-eating kind of zombie, Dead Awake has at least one zombie, played by Stephen Baldwin. While I'd like to make a joke at this point about the zombie reference being in reference to Baldwin family acting, he did okay in this one, and plays a corporate warrior who, though is successful, wanders through his days in a zombie-like trance because he is some sort of unexplained insomniac-narcoleptic. He's an insomniac who has is awake most nights and catches his rest in various lengths of micro sleep (with his eyes open). Enough of the plot is disclosed in the IMDb synopsis above (or probably also in the DVD liner notes), so I won't repeat it, but I will relate that some of the plot devices in this murder mystery are all at once simple, yet not completely unbelievable or borrowed/warmed over from other films.There are also interesting characters and decent camera work. The entire movie has the feeling of Insomnia (the movie with Al Pacino), though it's faster paced and requires less critical or intense thinking. There's a neat scene where the camera moves forward through a cab (in one window, out the other), and then you hear the cab take off, in an obvious attempt to trick the viewer into thinking there's no camera at all. It's easy to figure the trick out, but I appreciated the little extra thought and prep that must have went into the scene, adding to the films overall stream of dreamlike consciousness. It's by no means a "Waking Life" experience, or as contrived as Snatch, but a very unexpected sleeper that I had never heard of before.The music and ambiance not bad. Though it's filmed in Canada, it leaves you with the feeling that it could be New York, Chicago, or any believable Eastern US metro city.There is a server at the diner who is legally blind. Unlike so many films that portray blindness (especially low-vision/legal blindness) inaccurately, the blind girl treatment in Dead Awake was quite realistic, and will certainly leave some people wondering "how could she see if she is blind?". She was actually one of the more believable, well-played characters in the film.Overall, I probably would have walked past this one at the video rental store, especially with Stephen Baldwin on the cover, but I was mildly glad I mistakenly recorded it.PostScript: There's a short bonus scene in the credits betraying a happy little conclusion to the narcosomnia.

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 :.