AWAKENINGS (1990) - ♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Penny Marshall

Starring - Robert De Niro, Robin Williams

"Awakenings is a film based on a true story about a neurologist who experimented with a drug on a catatonic patient, and succeeding in ‘awaking’ him from his state before the cure backfiring dramatically. 

The concept is very interesting, but helmer Penny Marshall all too often shows a tendency to exaggerate the already big potential of the event with heavy handed accentuation of the melodrama. 

This exaggeration perhaps achieves a lessening of the impact of the movie, that still remains touching as well as a remarkable showcase for a difficult physical role by De Niro and one of Williams’ first impressive ‘straight’ roles after a career of mostly comedies – a role in fact that could arguably have shaped his dramatic actor distinctive persona more than any other ones."

Biopic, USA