Review of Awakenings (1990) by Kristine K — 21 Jul 2011

I love how I had took this morning off, because I found out at the last minute that Nick Nolte was more significant than De Niro in "Cape Fear", thus contradicting Robert De Niro Week and then I get to this film and Robin Williams ended up being more focused upon than De Niro. Oh, the irony. Well, to be fair, I also took this morning off because my reviewing skills are at their absolute weakest in the morning and at their very best at night. Boy, what a night to have the creative juices flowing, because we've got some stuff to discuss here. Of course, not all of it is good, as the film suffers from a lack of development, overdrawn segments, expendable sequences and a deal of cheesy points in the final act. Really, there's not much to complain about in the film, but there's not a whole lot to praise. Of course, what little there is to praise is really something to discuss.

The only small filmmaking pros seem to be some snappy editing and a decent pacing. Of course, the film doesn't want to be some revolution in filmmaking. It just wants to tell a compelling and fascinating story and succeeds, thanks to the good writing and brilliant performances. Every cast member carries extreme charisma and play their part well, keeping the film both entertaining and compelling. As for the patients, each one of them is portrayed sharply and believably. De Niro, in particular executes the many layers of his character the most cleanly and arguably the most believably. However, when the twist in his character comes and subtlety isn't going to cut it anymore, he's well balanced and extremely competent, making him easily the best performance in the film.

Oh wow, this review was not nearly as good as I thought it was going to be. Oh well, at least it's not as forced as my morning reviews. Trying to make a deep discussion out of the music in "The Mission". What was I thinking? But, I that's beside the point. Overall, "Awakenings", carried by charismatic, competent performances from just about the whole cast, - particularly De Niro - is a deeply fascinating, compelling and often emotionally impacting portrait on liberation and loss.