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There is no such thing as a simple miracle.
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
Wuchak
Jan 1, 2020 · via TMDB
***A ‘hospital film’ with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, based on a true story*** A shy doctor (Robin Williams) gets a job at a Bronx hospital in 1969 where he attends to several patients in a catatonic state after the encephalitis epidemic of 1917–28. He experiments with a new drug that offers the hope of reviving them. Robert De Niro plays his key patient, Julie Kavner his nurse and John Heard his supervisor. Penelope Ann Miller is also on hand as a potential romantic interest. "Awakenings” (1990) is based on Oliver Sacks' 1973 memoir of the same name, which chronicled the true event that occurred the summer of ’69. Being a hospital movie about ailing people trying to recover puts it in the same camp as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” (1975) and “Instinct” (1999), but it’s not as compelling. There’s just not enough human interest beyond the viewer being sympathetic toward the patients’ plight and wanting them to get well. It’s also marred by some blatant predictableness, like Leonard’s name on the bench and the “cup of coffee” aspect. Still, this is a tale that needed to be told and I’m not sorry I watched it. It’s just overrated. The film runs 2 hours and was shot in Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, New York City. GRADE: C+
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Robert De Niro
Leonard Lowe
Robin Williams
Malcolm Sayer
John Heard
Dr. Kaufman
Julie Kavner
Eleanor Costello
Penelope Ann Miller
Paula
Ruth Nelson
Mrs. Lowe
Max von Sydow
Peter Ingham
Anne Meara
Miriam
Dexter Gordon
Rolando
George Martin
Frank
Alice Drummond
Lucy Fishman
Richard Libertini
Sidney
Laura Esterman
Lolly
Barton Heyman
Bert
Judith Malina
Rose
Mary Alice
Nurse Margaret
Keith Diamond
Anthony
Bradley Whitford
Dr. Tyler
John Christopher Jones
Dr. Sullivan
Yusef Bulos
Joseph
Steven Randazzo
Luis
Steve Vinovich
Ray
Tiger Haynes
Janitor
Peter Stormare
Neurochemist
Charles Keating
Mr. Kean
Mel Gorham
Nurse Sara
Bret McCormick
Head Ward Orderly
Gordon Joseph Weiss
Ward #5 Patient
Byron Utley
Ward #5 Patient #2
Vincent Pastore
Ward #5 Patient #6
Harry L. Seddon
Medical Student
Jack Mulcahy
Psych Ward Intern
Vin Diesel
Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
Alan E. Muraoka
Assistant Art Director
Miroslav Ondříček
Director of Photography
Carrie Fisher
Thanks
Patricia Birch
Thanks
Tracy Reiner
Thanks
Penny Marshall
Director
Glen Trotiner
Second Assistant Director
Bonnie Timmermann
Casting
Penny Marshall
Executive Producer
Lawrence Lasker
Producer
Walter F. Parkes
Producer
Randy Newman
Original Music Composer
Oliver Sacks
Book
Steven Zaillian
Screenplay
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Nine Days and One Morning
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Laps
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Am I Beautiful?
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The Sum of All Fears
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Gemma Bovery
Factotum
Silent Night
Someone I Loved
Powder Blue
A Handful of Dust
My Life Without Me
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La Lingerie
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As in Heaven
Appointment with Death
This Is My Life
December Boys
Before I Say Goodbye
Human Nature
The Jungle Book
Under Capricorn
The Days Between
Transit Prisoner
The Thief
Small Small Thing
Love & Friendship
Comma
Diablillos de arrabal
Quarantine
A Mother's Touch
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The Impossible Spy
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The Happy Housewife
Love Me
1922
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Echo Park
Fast-Walking
Milka: A Film About Taboos
The Last Days of Chez Nous
I Think We're Alone Now
My Man
Charles and Lucie
Escapade
Brute
Gun Hill Road
Odette Toulemonde
When the Legends Die
The Ponder Heart
Blood and Chocolate
On the Edge
The Land of Steady Habits
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Hotel Very Welcome
The Story of O
Fraulein
A Soap
Crimes of Diogo Alves
Run Papa Run
O orgasmos tis ageladas
Tell Me No Secrets
Last Refuge
What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?
Hanging Up
Easy Sex
Getting to Know the Big Wide World
Just Like Home
Share
A Glimpse of Hell
Macu, la mujer del policía
Game
Forget America
The Girl from Monaco
A French Gigolo
It Happened Just Before
The Guardian Angel
Never Mind the Wall
36 Fillette
The Passion of Ayn Rand
The King's Daughters
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan
Molly Takes a Trip
Tales of Mexico
Doctor Who: Snakedance
La Baraja de la Muerte
Meadowlarks
Buddy
Jarrapellejos
You Wont Miss Me
Sofie
I Dream Too Much
Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls
Nights of Farewell
Nothing Else Matters
Felicitas
Himmo, King of Jerusalem
A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story
Older Than America
The Prince and the Nature Girl
Lízino štěstí
Passion Fever
Equator
Extramarital
Awakened
Dying or Feeling Better
Saas Bahu Aur Sensex
Father Sergius
Bye Bye Victor
Cold Blooded
Next
Mixed Christmas
Hallway
Hollywood Lucifer
Clara s'en va mourir
Have a Nice Day
Cover Me
Free Entry
FYP
Maquette 1:1000
Půlpenny
In Safe Hands
The Arsonist’s Daughter
Flowers For Mrs. Harris
Human Blood Is Thicker than Water
Mille scudi
Jennie Gerhardtová
Poslední rok
Starý včelár
Being Heumann
Před premiérou
Suzanne
Antarctica
Zlatý drak
Život a dílo skladatele Foltýna
Opioid Scare
Rukama nevinnosti
Juilliard Opera: Dialogues des Carmélites
The Perfect Wife
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Clouds
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Something the Lord Made
Gigi & Nate
Breakthrough
Dark Waters
The Secret Life of Bees
The Verdict
Miracles from Heaven
Erin Brockovich
Richard Jewell
If I Stay
The Life of Chuck
The Hours
Fathers and Daughters
The Andromeda Strain
The Cider House Rules
Brain on Fire
The Rainmaker
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
Point Blank
JOY
No Way Out
The Boy in the Woods
The Children Act
Dragonfly
Starving in Suburbia
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Sunchaser
Dec 12, 1990
Century City, California
Dec 19, 1990
Jan 11, 1991
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Bicara Cinta
2020
The Pied Pipers of Harlow
1965
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Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
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