Review of Awakenings (1990) by Andy L — 03 Jan 2010

Alot of people are giving this movie 100%, although this is a great film it is not perfect. Amazing preformances from Robin Williams and De Niro truly do make this film from mediocre to great.

The negative first; The reason why I didn't give this film 100% was mainly due to the empty feeling you do get with some of the supporting cast. They just don't have the excellence that comes from Williams & De Niro; I guess they are not expected to but still it just seems that there is no real chemistry between the stars and the cast. Because of that we have a movie with some dull moments.

Robert De Niro is truly unbelievable in this film; he deserves to be called one of the greatest actors ever. He takes us on a journey through his character Leonard; De Niro really enables us to see a man who is trapped with a disease that disables him from any social or physical interaction. To be honest the first part of the film De Niro seems to just float through the motions of acting but it is the second half in which he truly shines as he progressivly gets worse in his condition. He brings us joy when he is recovering but also deep sadness as we see him deteriorate. Truly an amazing preformance.

Robin Williams I believe has a harder task in this film; he has to take a bland character, no offensive intended to the actual Dr Sacks, and make us connect with him; and he does a fantastic job! Williams works hard and truly makes us feel all the emotions that Dr Sacks feels, even with just the emotion in his eyes.

It was a great film and really should be appreciated on a wider scale.