Sometimes, while watching a particularly powerful film, I will think that the only thing I will write in my review is: you must see it.  Then I sit down to do the actual typing and realize that this is not only cliché but lazy.  There is so much to say about Awakenings (1990), and I will try to fit it into my normal format.  However, by way of introduction, know that while viewing it, I held back tears until the climactic moment when I could no longer contain my emotions.  For now, I will tell you why I was so touched by its content.  In short, it is my Faith.  What you are going to read about (or know if you have already seen the movie) is a marginalized group of people given a chance at life.  There are few more Christian acts than this in it, and they are all lessons I believe we would do well to remember as a society.

The society we see at the beginning of Awakenings is the Bronx of the 1920s.  One of its members, eleven-year-old Leonard Lowe (Anthony J. Nici), appears as normal as any other kid at that time.  Yet, we soon see there are some issues.  His hand starts to freeze in place, he has trouble writing his name, and before long he is forced to stay at home while the world carries on without him.  That world carries on to 1969 when Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) arrives at Bainbridge Hospital in the same borough.  He believes he is interviewing for a position in a research facility.  Instead, he takes a job working with patients at a psychiatric ward.  He is not thrilled by this prospect, being awkward around even the friendliest of people.  Despite his lack of social graces, it is apparent to him that the patients are there merely to exist, not to get better.  It was at this moment that this practicing Catholic began sitting up and paying close attention.  His first real interaction with one of the residents is the newly arrived Lucy (Alice Drummond).  Like the others on this ward, she is in a catatonic state known as encephalitis lethargica.  Another common trait they share is that they have been in this seemingly unresponsive state for decades, survivors of an epidemic that occurred during the 1920s.  I say “seemingly unresponsive” because Dr. Sayer’s boss, Dr. Kaufman (John Heard), dismisses them in this manner, dehumanizing them.  Dr. Sayer is of roughly the same opinion until one day while examining Lucy, he drops his glasses behind him, only to turn around and find her bending down to pick them up.  She does not complete the gesture, but it is a start.  He also observes her walking towards the window.  Noticing her stopping short because of the lack of a pattern on the floor, he completes the checkered tile with some help from his nurse assistant, Eleanor Costello (Julie Kavner).  The next day, they witness Lucy cross the floor not to get a drink of water as Dr. Sayer assumed she was trying to do, but simply for the pleasure of looking out the window.  These and other responses he observes, like their ability to catch a ball, has him theorizing that there is something going on inside their heads other than simple motor reflex as Dr. Kaufman suggests.  Seeking solutions, Dr. Sayer attends a lecture given by a chemist on the effects of a drug known scientifically as L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, or L-DOPA for short, which is being used for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.  While he is hopeful it can work on his patients, Dr. Kaufman is skeptical as to its efficacy, especially when Dr. Sayer’s admits how much applying L-DOPA to everyone will cost.  Still, Dr. Sayer is able to get approval for clinal trials for one resident, the now fifty-something Leonard (Robert De Niro).  There is some experimentation with the dose, but eventually he is able to “come back,” as he describes it, from the fog of his condition.  Despite his apparent success, Dr. Kaufman does not think anyone else will be willing to fund purchasing more L-DOPA in order to give it to the others.  No sooner had he said this than other members of staff come to his table at lunch and sign over their paychecks.  Dr. Sayer is also able to convince the board to open their checkbooks, and soon all his patients are dosed with L-DOPA.  The results are as one nurse puts it (and forgive my accurate quoting), “A fucking miracle.”  All of them have awakened, capable of speech and other motor skills.  They have to deal with the fact that decades have passed since they have been able to interact with the world around them, but most of them are thrilled with life.  The person that is most focused on is Leonard.  So complete does his recovery look that he starts noticing women, namely Paula (Penelope Ann Miller).  While the others leave the facility for an outing, Leonard stays behind to chat with Paula.  He is up front about his condition, but she is accepting.  Because of her reaction, he petitions to be able to talk walks on his own.  Unfortunately, as he goes before the board, he is exhibiting the early signs of a physical tick that Dr. Sayer notices.  Given his medical history, and the potential of a relapse, even Dr. Sayer votes against letting Leonard have this freedom.  He does not take this news well, attempting to go outside without permission and having to be dragged to the psychiatric ward with a struggle.  In what is basically a prison, he becomes more paranoid as his spasms worsen.  Dr. Sayer is able to, with patience, get Leonard to accept help.  Together, they document everything Leonard experiences as he returns to a catatonic state.  Nonetheless, he gets to say goodbye to Paula, sharing a dance before she departs.  It is at this point I started crying, the tears continuing to flow as all the patients once again become like Leonard.  One good thing comes of it, though, in that Dr. Sayer finally works up the courage to ask Eleanor to have a cup of coffee, and that is where the film ends.

Despite the sweet ending for Eleanor and Dr. Sayer, Awakenings sounds like a sad movie.  Once the film concluded and the crying somewhat subsided, I called my sister just to hear a friendly voice.  In describing to her what I had seen, I had trouble getting it out in a few sentences without wanting to burst into tears once more.  It is because I have grown in my Faith, and hopefully will continue to grow, that I felt as I did and do.  It also makes it difficult for me to know where to start with this part of my review.  I supposed Dr. Sayer is a good person to focus on for the moment.  He is initially not a willing physician, but he makes one key point that I have already pointed out: that the patients in his ward are worthy of treatment.  He recognizes in them what Dr. Kaufman does not: that there is a person inside of them.  I do not like such language, but the nurse I quoted earlier is right even before they came out of their catatonic states, they are miracles.  Eleanor puts it more cleanly later when she points out to Dr. Sayer that life is a gift.  That is what the Church teaches, that our lives are a blessing from God.  It does not matter if a person is in the womb, has spent decades in a coma, is in this country illegally, has gender-identity issues, or experiences some other challenge, we are all God’s creations and deserve recognition as such.  Part of that recognition is treating everyone with the dignity they deserve, and as God’s creations.  That is not what is happening at Bainbridge under Dr. Kaufman’s leadership.  Perhaps I am being too critical.  There is something to be said about making life as comfortable as possible for people who cannot care for themselves.  It is the clinical setting that is troubling, and Dr. Kaufman’s attitude towards the residents does not help.  As such, it does beg the question: what more can one do for people in this condition?  In other words, how does one account for the miracle?  While the movie does not specifically point to Divine intervention, other than the exclamations already discussed, there is one line with which any Christian can agree.  Towards the end, Dr. Sayer is discussing what had happened with Leonard and the others when he administered L-DOPA.  He credits less the drug, and more the human spirit.  He calls it “powerful,” but the only reason it is so is because it is the one thing within all of us that is specifically made by God.

Because we are all His creations, I appreciate the work you see Dr. Sayer perform in Awakenings.  What makes it better is the fact that this is based on a true story.  As such, I hope you see this movie, even if it might make you cry.  If you do, may it serve as yet another reminder that all lives are precious and have worth.