Awakenings

The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.

AMG Plot: Based on a true story as related by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings stars Robin Williams as the Sacks counterpart, here named Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Something of a klutz and naif, Dr. Sayer takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. Here he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic patients who, under Sayer's painstaking guidance, begin responding to certain stimulati. Apprised of the efficacy of a new drug called L-DOPA in treating degenerative-disease victims, Sayer is given permission to test the drug on one of his patients: Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), who has not communicated with anyone since lapsing into catatonia as a child. Gradually, Lowe comes out of his shell, encouraging Sayers to administer L-DOPA to the other patients under his care. Julie Kavner and John Heard also star. — Hal Erickson

AMG Review: Loosely based on a book by real-life neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings (1990) marked the high point of a successful side career for Sacks as a chronicler of unusual medical case histories. Although the film too often displays the easy sentimentality typical of director Penny Marshall, and the plot pitted its heroes against mindless hospital bureaucrats in a tired effort to force an antagonist into the proceedings, the career-high performances of stars Robin Williams and Robert De Niro make it a must-see film. Cast against type, the two pros sink their teeth into their roles as, respectively, a shy genius and a man with a teenager's mind betrayed by a collection of physical tics and twitches. The actors were rewarded for their efforts with a rare tie as Best Actor from the National Board of Review, and the film was nominated for three Oscars. So memorable was Williams in the doctor role that he repeatedly returned to the well and played healers in numerous later films, including Dead Again (1991), Nine Months (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), and Patch Adams (1998). — Karl Williams