Awakenings
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is 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.
Cast
Robert De Niro
as Leonard Lowe
Robin Williams
as Malcolm Sayer
John Heard
as Dr. Kaufman
Julie Kavner
as Eleanor Costello
Penelope Ann Miller
as Paula
Ruth Nelson
as Mrs. Lowe
Max von Sydow
as Peter Ingham
Anne Meara
as Miriam
Dexter Gordon
as Rolando
George Martin
as Frank
Reviews
Wuchak
***A ‘hospital film’ with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, based on a true story*** A shy doctor (Robin Williams) gets a job at a Bronx hospital in 1969 where he attends to several patients in a catatonic state after the encephalitis epidemic of 1917–28. He experiments with a new drug that offe...
