Uplifting and invigorating, "Awakenings" shows a doctor's persistent appreciation of human life as he maintains hope for a ward of patients turned into human statues by an encephalitis epidemic in the 1920s. Overcoming resistance to the medical status-quo's inertia, the new young doctor, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Williams) tries a new drug, L-dopa, on patient Leonard Lowe (De Niro), who awakens to the wonder of life after a 30-year catatonic sleep. Sayer is able to revive many of the patients, but only for awhile; the cure doesn't last. Based on Dr. Oliver Sacks's 1973 nonfiction book by the same name, this 1990 film directed by Penny Marshall is solid and moving.