Dr Malcolm Sayer: What we do know is that, as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place; that the human spirit is more powerful than any drug - and THAT is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, family. THESE are the things that matter. This is what we'd forgotten - the simplest things.
"My parents are dead. My wife is in an institution. My son has disappeared out west, somewhere. I feel old and I feel swindled. That's how I feel."Awakenings" is another story from Penny Marshall about a young boywho falls asleep one night and wakes up a grown man. The twist thistime is that it's a true story--"Awakenings" details the events thattook place in the Bronx in 1969, when Leonard Lowe -- a thirty-yearcatatonic -- suddenly...awoke.
Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) believes that the catatonics heworks around all day long are still alive, on the inside, and notmerely shells -- people who are unable to control their bodies but arestill able to control their thoughts. He decides to try giving thepatients doses of medicine intended for sufferers of Parkinson'sdisease. To his amazement, the first test subject -- Leonard (RobertDe Niro) -- wakes up in the middle of the night."I was gone for a long time. I'm back."
The movie is loosely based on true events of an encephalitis epidemicthat spread across New York City. It sent the victims into a deepcatatonic state for the rest of their lives. The film is based on thework of author/neurologist Oliver Sacks, who used the drug L-dopa, forParkinson's patients, on the catatonics. To his surprise they began to"wake up" again, but soon after-effects of the drug began to kick in.Eventually, Sacks' patients slipped back into their old states again.But during the time they were able to explore the world once more,they felt free -- and Robert De Niro captures the essence of thatfreedom very well in "Awakenings"
Marshall (director of "Big") seems to have some sort of fascinationwith this idea of small children turning into adults overnight.Although I wasn't a very big fan of "Big," it did seem to capture theawe of adulthood and childhood yearning. "Awakenings" isn't a comedylike "Big" was but, as Leonard roams the streets of the Bronx visitinghis school, and areas where he used to hang out with his friends, itexudes the same sort of message, and asks us: If you went to bed as achild and woke up an adult, what would you do?De Niro and Williams give terrific performances (albeit forgettablecompared to past roles) and are supported by a top-notch castincluding Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson) and John Heard ("Home Alone").Marshall's directorial style is a bit schmaltzy sometimes but overalldoesn't hurt the flow of the film. As a whole the film works but unfortunately thinks it is much betterthan it is -- after an excellent opening credits sequence it slowlyslips into mediocrity. Ranking in at almost two and a half hours long,like many dramas of the genre, the film is unable to suspend interestwhile keeping fairly true to the facts. But the ending redeemseverything. It's a sad film, one that made many cinemagoers break downinto tears when it was released in 1990. It's occasionally too heavyon the Spielbergian-esque schmaltz but as long as you don't expect amasterpiece, "Awakenings" is an entertaining film that serves itspurpose. I expected more after viewing the trailer but I can't say Iwas too terribly disappointed.
