hyped garbage

good back-story, and good acting

A Disappointing Continuation

There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

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

Geez, I've lost my faith in the IMDb reviewers when I see this putting up a 4.6 on the IMDb board. I just checked, that's 1 1/2 points less than a piece of putrid trash like Wet Hot American Summer. I'm guessing this one went over too many people's heads. Baldwin is a distracted, washed-out genius making big bucks in the business world. His insomnia and penchant for habitual late night walks make him the perfect chump in a murder scam. When he's not being made the fall guy he hangs with the wacky late-night losers at the Snow White Diner and falls asleep (with eyes wide open) at work.Lipper - Y'know, you should be a contestant on Jeopardy. Baldwin - There's a conflict. Lipper - Why? Baldwin - I used to write the questions..There's a campy but unpretentious camaraderie with the Snow White crew that makes this hang together, not the least due to Ironside's brain-damaged Skay. I also enjoyed Yankie as the luckiest detective in town, Roy as the over-focused girlfriend and Grenon as the shy waitress. This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen and an atmospheric gem. Ignore the lousy ratings and enjoy.

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.

I wondered what this movie was about. I don't usually watch anything that has one or more of Baldwin Boys in it. But there was absolutely nothing else on. Much to my surprise this has a very intricately woven storyline and other than Stephen Baldwin having to act like a 'zoned-out' zombie because of his insomnia, it was very good. The action, re-action script was the best part of this flick. I'm sure any really good actor could have done much more with it, but all-in-all I liked. Plot twists and detours always get my attention.