Half Asleep

This hospital-centric thriller should have annoyed the hell out of me. My current thespian nemesis Hayden Christensen is the star, whilst graphic operation scenes on TV have me diving for the remote.

So, the combination of Mr Personality being conscious, yet unable to move or convey his agony during heart transplant surgery sounded about as appealing as a visit to Heathrow's calamitous new Terminal.

Yet, even with the silliness of a plot whose frightening central premise is merely a stepping stone for additional agonies to be piled on its successful, good-hearted (irony intended) protagonist, I quite enjoyed this slick Hollywood debut from British writer-director Joby Harold. Leave your brain at the door, strap yourself in and it's a decent enough ride.

It starts like a modern fairy tale. Christensen's Clay Beresford is a successful Wall Street businessman living in the shadow of his even richer dead father and domineering, over protective mother, played by Premier League hard bitch Lena Olin. He's also been secretly romancing Olin's lovely assistant Jessica Alba behind mum's back. Well, wouldn't you?

As explained in the leisurely first third, Clay is a walking mass of contradictions. He is a generous billionaire on the waiting list at the local non private hospital, because he wants his doctor best friend Terrence Howard (already facing several malpractice suits!) to operate – even though his mother is chums with a world-renowned heart surgeon.

Despite his dicky ticker, he is also able to cope with secret new wife Alba tickling his dicky without even a heart murmur. We are not talking gritty realism.

Anyway, the entertainment levels kick up several gears when he gets the important beep and is prepped for surgery. Even after his anesthesia, Clay realises he can still hear voices. Worse still he can feel everything and can't even bat an eyelid to warn them.

The extended sequence that follows is a very effective exercise in squirm. We hear Christensen's terrified thoughts, view his fragmented memories of the past as he tries to distract his brain from the pain and see the doctors gruesomely going about their business.