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Awakenings
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Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

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10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams
  • Summary: By opening one man's eyes to the world... he opened his own. A true story of a maverick doctor and the patients whose lives he changes. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician who uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease beginning with Leonard, the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor. Encouraged by Leonard's stunning recovery, Sayer administers the drug to the other patients. The story of their friendship during this emotional journey is a testament to both the tenderness of the human heart and the strength of the human soul. (Sony Pictures)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    After seeing Awakenings, I read it, to know more about what happened in that Bronx hospital. What both the movie and the book convey is the immense courage of the patients and the profound experience of their doctors, as in a small way they reexperienced what it means to be born, to open your eyes and discover to your astonishment that "you" are alive.
  2. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    100
    Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall, is a curiously engaging, genuinely haunting movie that rises above some dubious handicapped jokes and strange casting decisions to be truly special. [11 Jan 1991, p.5]
    All this critic's reviews
  3. Empire
    Reviewed by: Philip Thomas
    60
    Plucks at the heart-strings in a far too push-button way.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

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