Awakenings (1990)
There is no such thing as a simple miracle.
Director: Penny Marshall · Writer: Steven Zaillian
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.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Trailer
Director
Penny Marshall
Cast
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 User Reviews (1)
***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 …
