Review of Awakenings (1990) by Tyler S — 10 Dec 2014

An Oscar worthy performance from BOTH Deniro and Williams here, more from Robert.

Williams plays a doctor in hospital full of comatose patients. These patients don't move or talk and only have reflexes to move. It is unknown if they are aware of their surroundings as the literally have no interaction with other due to their state. Robin Williams while working in the hospital finds a chemical that enables deniro to talk, have feeling, and eventually become normal again.

The Rest of the patients get the chemical and their lives become normal. However what isn't known is the chemical has side effects and eventually they will became irriatic and return to their comatose state.

Here you get a calm, nervous, hopeful, reserved, serious performance from Williams. You buy into who this guy is. He's a loner who cares about others more than himself.

Then you get Deniro character. What a masterful performance. You see him act in a comatose state, a serious state, an erratic state, and extremely emotional. It is hard to watch at times due to the suffering these patients go through when the drug stops to work and they revert back to the comatose state. Deniro suffers from twitches and he just nails it. It's a shame he didn't win a best actor. It's a great film based on a true story of a doctor who found hope and didn't give up despite the odds against him.