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Actors: Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Julie Kavner, John Heard, Penelope Ann Miller
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Awakenings |
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Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Williams) is the new young doctor on a Bronx hospital ward of comatose patients, and wonders what can be done for them. They were turned to human statues by an encephalitis epidemic in the 1920s, and many of them have been misdiagnosed as schizophrenics or hysterics. Sayer obtains permission to try a new drug on them, L-dopa, and his first patient, Leonard Lowe (De Niro), wakes up to the wonder of life after a 30-year catatonic sleep. For a time, Sayer is able to revive many of these long-term sleepers, but it doesn't last. Based on Dr. Oliver Sacks's 1973 nonfiction book by the same name, this 1990 film directed by Penny Marshall is solid and moving if unspectacular.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Awakenings |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- mental patient
Brain/Body not working?
- physical disability
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Misc setting
- mental hospital
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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