"Awakenings" (1990), a beautiful, moving film about waking up from a long slumber and realizing life has moved on without him. Robert De Niro and Robin Williams give two stellar performances.

It's one of those films where you're surprised to know it truly happened. Based on Oliver Sacks' book, "Awakenings" is about a man called Malcom Sayer, who through his research, realizes he's able to "wake up" the catatonic patients from a psychiatric hospital with the drug L-Dopa. As the patients revive and begin to adjust to the present, Malcom begins to bond with Leonard Lowe, who spent his entire life in a catatonic state, and starts to relive again and yet as life is brought back to him, he also realizes what he has lost as well as the tragic fate which awaits him.

Don't expect Robin Williams to throw cracks or be funny, he's strictly serious as the awkward doctor and he completely excels in a subtle role whereas Robert De Niro is excellent as Leonard, a man who lost his life when he was a child and revived as a middle-aged man, still acting like the little boy he once was and developing a crush on the young woman who comes to visit her family member. It's one of his most sensitive performances, a far cry from his tough guy roles, and he succeeds at every turn.

Even though it got nominated for Best Picture and was a commercial success, Penny Marshall's drama isn't very well remembered which is unfortunate. It might be a simple melodrama yet it touches every string in your heart. A strong supporting cast helps: Julie Kavner, John Heard, Penelope Ann Miller, Max Von Sydow, Ruth Nelson, Alice Drummond. Randy Newman provided one of his most touching film scores as well, arguably my favorite since the one he did for Ragtime.

Submitted March 18, 2018 at 03:28AM by Pedro645 http://ift.tt/2DBv8xI