 Despite the film 's generally mixed reception , critics praised Sawa 's performance as Alex . Holden of The New York Times commented that " The disaster and Alex 's premonitions set up a heavy @-@ handed fable about death and teenage illusions of invulnerability " . David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews remarked " Sawa 's personable turn as the hero is matched by a uniformly effective supporting cast rife with familiar faces ( i.e. Seann William Scott , Brendan Fehr , Tony Todd , etc ) ... , " while Leydon of Variety pointed out that " Sawa is credible as the second @-@ sighted Alex — unlike many other actors cast a teen protagonists , he actually looks like he might still be attending high school — but the supporting players are an uneven bunch " . LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised Sawa and Ali Larter 's pairing , saying that " Larter and Sawa , who becomes more scruffy and wild @-@ eyed as the film progresses , make an appealing pair " . 
