1990 · drama
Awakenings
Directed by Penny Marshall2h 0m1990
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.
Our read: Awakenings (1990) reads as a sombre, steady, inventive drama entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, steady, measured drama, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- inventive
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How Awakenings feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want a tender medical miracle story that earns its devastating emotional turn.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if quiet hospital dramas and late heartbreak will wreck your mood tonight.
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