Wide Awake
She Had All The Answers...Until Now!
Rosie O'Donnell (Beautiful Girls, Harriet The Spy) stars with Denis Leary (Wag The Dog, Small Soldiers) and Dana Delany (Fly Away Home, Tombstone) in this feel-good comedy about the laughter, excitement and fun that come with being a kid! Joshua is a thoughtful 10-year-old looking for some simple answers to life's eternal questions. The problem is that no one -- including his concerned parents (Leary, Delany) and his colorful 5th-grade teacher (O'Donnell) -- seems to be making any sense! Therefore, Joshua makes it his personal mission to unravel the mysteries himself...and in the process reminds everyone what it's like to wake up to the world for the very first time! With great performances from an incredible cast -- you'll love all the comedy and adventure in this altogether unforgettable motion picture!
Member Reviews
Interesting on a few different levels - Wil_Derness
OK, maybe it doesn't deserve 4 stars, but it was an interesting film if you consider the fact that this is M. Night Shyamalan's first film. He's obviously being forced to follow the Disney cookie cutter format. However, does he really? How many Disney films take this approach to looking at the loss of a loved one or one's personal spiritual journey? The obvious cliches for this movie could be "Looking for God in all the wrong places" or "God is where you least expect it to be"... blah blah blah. But, this movie appeals to me because it exposes the man behind the curtain of religion, so to speak. Now, some may percieve the ending to be very pro Christian, but I would disagree. The ending merely states something to the effect of, "Ope, there you are God, you were there all along!". Here's a little game you can play while you watch this movie: try to predict the exact moment that the boy says "... and now I'm wide awake!"I would rather have disemboweled myself... - Riverrattler
OK, even spending 89 minutes counting the blades of grass on your lawn is time better spent than watching this manipulative piece of religious propaganda. I disliked the message of this movie; even more, I disliked the way strongly emotional themes were used to manipulate the audience.
Wide awake is a story of a grade 5 student and his voyage to find God. Not a generic God, but an exclusively christian God, and certainly not a muslim, buddhist, or jewish God. The story is set in the context of 11 year old Joshua's efforts to deal with the death of his grandfather, who had an exceptionally close relationship with Joshua. The grandfather dies of bone marrow cancer, and it is the sorrow and agony of Joshua's loss that is used to deliver the message of God's existence. Joshu spends the whole movie unsuccessfully trying to find evidence of God, and had the movie ended this way I might have been able to stomach it. But no, at the end not only does Joshua find God, he actually speaks to God, who assures Joshua that gramps is ok. A shameful manipulation of our basic emotional vulnerabilities, this movie should be saved for Sunday school use only. Caveat emptor...Forget the ad copy, but Zip the movie. - spaceanddeath
Please, pay absolutely no attention to the ad copy of this movie. It's not a feel-good comedy about the laughter and excitement of being a kid. It doesn't star Rosie O'Donnell, Dennis Leary or Dana Delaney, though they are all minor characters.
Wide Awake stars Joseph Cross as 10 year old Joshua, a bright, thoughtful kid who is struggling with questions about death and divinity after the loss of his grandfather. In a personal mission to reach God to find out if his grandfather is happy in the afterlife, Joshua exhausts all the avenues he can think of, and along the way discovers a lot about life, people, faith and growing up.
Lacking the dark intensity of M. Night Shyamalan's later films (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs & The Village) this movie has the same exploratory feel and results in the same tangible sense of humanity.
Like the other child actors in later movies, M. Night has, in Joseph Cross, chosen a hearty and earnest young actor to carry the role of Joshua. Rosie O'Donnell delivers a remarkably (and thankfully) restrained performance as Joshua's teacher. Denis Leary and Dana Delaney, though they play competently well, are in parts so unremarkable that the film would have been better off saving the money spent on them and put it into a more truthful promotional campaign.
This movie is definitely worth a zip if you are not put off by theological exploration in your entertainment.
Member Reviews
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Interesting on a few different levels - Wil_Derness
OK, maybe it doesn't deserve 4 stars, but it was an interesting film if you consider the fact that this is M. Night Shyamalan's first film. He's obviously being forced to follow the Disney cookie cutter format. However, does he really? How many Disney films ...I would rather have disemboweled myself... - Riverrattler
OK, even spending 89 minutes counting the blades of grass on your lawn is time better spent than watching this manipulative piece of religious propaganda. I disliked the message of this movie; even more, I disliked the way strongly emotional themes were used ...Forget the ad copy, but Zip the movie. - spaceanddeath
Please, pay absolutely no attention to the ad copy of this movie. It's not a feel-good comedy about the laughter and excitement of being a kid. It doesn't star Rosie O'Donnell, Dennis Leary or Dana Delaney, though they are all minor characters.
Wide ...