I love psychology, and a fan of Oliver Sacks, this movie is definitely made safe for a wide audience. As such there's a lot of pitfalls. MOSTLY in the acting and directing. I was shocked to see Penny Marshall's name as the director. She's usually quite talented. Don't know what was going on here.
The movie is about an epidemic of water on the brain patients and how an early life illness turned them all catatonic, and a drug usually used to treat Parkinson's helped 'awaken' them. So it has its manufactured feel good moments, does end on a sad note, but you realize, according to the movie, that it was the hospital that failed everyone and not the drug or the Sacks facsimile played by Robin Williams.
The thing with portraying mental patients is, you have to be SUPER CAREFUL, and I don't think they were. A lot of these performances border on caricature, and I know it's not INTENTIONAL, but the road to hell are paved with good intentions. Like this one scene where Sacks (I forgot his fake name in the movie) was doing his rounds as a new doctor on the ward, and is interviewing a normal woman, then takes out his pen, clicks it and she cartoonishly freaks out. YIKES. I mean I get that happens, but her "acting" was more comedic than believable manic.
Sigh, it's a movie of its time, and as such ages like milk. I don't recommend it.
The movie is about an epidemic of water on the brain patients and how an early life illness turned them all catatonic, and a drug usually used to treat Parkinson's helped 'awaken' them. So it has its manufactured feel good moments, does end on a sad note, but you realize, according to the movie, that it was the hospital that failed everyone and not the drug or the Sacks facsimile played by Robin Williams.
The thing with portraying mental patients is, you have to be SUPER CAREFUL, and I don't think they were. A lot of these performances border on caricature, and I know it's not INTENTIONAL, but the road to hell are paved with good intentions. Like this one scene where Sacks (I forgot his fake name in the movie) was doing his rounds as a new doctor on the ward, and is interviewing a normal woman, then takes out his pen, clicks it and she cartoonishly freaks out. YIKES. I mean I get that happens, but her "acting" was more comedic than believable manic.
Sigh, it's a movie of its time, and as such ages like milk. I don't recommend it.