Dead Awake

"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".

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 :.

An insomniac learns how to "wake-up' during a murder investigation blamed on him during his late night walks thru the hood...women dying to be his secretary, a whacked out Detective, and people at the local diner trying to help all adds up to...? Well, you should watch to find out. Trivial kind of flick but good late night watching, Stephen Baldwin at his mediocre best I've seen in a while. I loved it for what it was...

An insomniac (Stephen Baldwin) learns how to wake up during a murder investigation that pits him against women that would die to be his secretary, a whacked-out detective searching for the truth and a sleazy diner full of so-called friends that only want to help. Stephen Balwin puts in another regular performance but this time with a script that shines. It is amost cult level...almost.

This was a pretty good little thriller. The idea revolving around insomniac Desmond Caine, who wonders the streets at night and witnesses a murder, was good. Did he really see a murder, or is his brain playing tricks on him. It soon becomes apparant that he did really see a murder, which he becomes the lead suspect for, and his life is then in danger.

This is a well paced and soldily directed thriller with good twists and it has a dark and funny comical edge to it. The good thing about this film was that it had a fairly original idea and the film is entertaining. The end was kind of a let down in some ways though. I do think this idea had the potential to be a really good dark and eerie thriller, ore of a horror, while this is more of a quirky thriller.

The cast is good. Stephan Baldwin is good in the lead, as is the gorgeous Maxim Roy as his wife. It is Michael Ironside who steal the show though, he is excellent as one of the strange characters that Desmond meets on his nightly journeys.

Overall this was solid and watchable but most definately not best way to have handled a great idea (much like the handling of Schwarzeneggers 6th day), but it certainly wasn't the worst. 6/10