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Review by eely 🌙 ★★★★ Liked

robin williams’ smile could save the world.

5

one of the most wholesome uses of a ouija board i have ever seen

2

Once again an incredible performance by De Niro. I don't get how he does it! He never fails to bring a convincing performance.

Robin Williams really was one of a kind. I miss him so much.

2

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

4

Devastatingly bittersweet. Penny Marshall pulls off several amazing feats with this movie. For one, she makes a film that revolves around disabilities that actually seems respectful of people with disabilities. This is tremendously rare for American studio movies, which generally tend to over-dramatize disability to the point of caricature and melodrama.

Marshall also provokes massive emotions from both her cast and her audience without ever feeling forced or hokey. Awakenings’ incredible true story is a prime candidate for Oscar-baity heavy-handedness, but Marshall never takes that bait, instead allowing natural performances to tell this remarkably human story.

Perhaps the most impressive feat of all: Awakenings makes science genuinely exciting. The first forty minutes of the film frame Robin Williams’ Dr. Sayer as…

1

Me watching this: :) :( :) :( :) :( :))) :( :) :((((

14

A:
*FANTABULOUS*

There is only one thing I fear more than death.

I am 17 years old. For every day I've lived, I've woken up, and had the ability to open my eyes and see the sun again, as I did yesterday, and as I will tomorrow. The act of opening my eyes, the act of actually SEEING, the acts of getting out of bed and walking to my desk and writing something and making films and just plain living--they're rote. They're old news to me. When I take a step, I don't think about it, I just do it, because I simply CAN. When I take a breath, no thought goes into the process. I don't take a moment…

Review by Eric ★★★★½

I can't watch anything with Robin Williams in it without getting sad, but MAN this one got depressing. Also, some great pacing here. Builds up and pays off perfectly.

4

“People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded.”

Following the huge success of her 80’s comedy, Big, director Penny Marshall decided to approach a much more sensitive and serious subject matter in her next film based on Oliver Sacks’ semi-biographical book about his work in a ward with patients in catatonic state. Robin Williams was cast to play Dr. Sacks, although the character’s name was changed to Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy doctor who prior to have been hired at the ward had very little experience working with patients. He was obsessed with researching and doing lab work, but those skills came in handy when he began…

3

A very likable and sincere tearjerker which easily fits into the "underrated gem" category. Robin Williams really was kindness incarnate.

Review by beatrice ★★★★

robin williams has the power to make me cry in any movie he’s in

Review by ʟᴜғғʏ ★★★★½ Liked

Never thought a dance scene in a movie could be so painful to watch.