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Wide Awake

Play trailer Poster for Wide Awake PG 1998 1h 28m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
45% Tomatometer 33 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Struggling to adjust to his beloved grandfather's death, a boy (Joseph Cross) seeks understanding of God, life and injustice.
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Wide Awake

Critics Reviews

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Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com 01/25/2021
B-
[M. Night Shyamalan] clearly hadn't quite figured out exactly what he wanted to say or do, but as a film, it does feel like a director who is really trying to make something that feels different from other family entertainment that explores spirituality. Go to Full Review
Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 02/14/2001
A wonderful family film that deals sensitively, and even with humor, with a fairly unusual situation for the screen: a 9-year-old's struggles with his faith in God. Go to Full Review
Peter Stack San Francisco Chronicle 01/01/2000
2/4
Children, too, will be bored to tears navigating through some of the talky spiritual gunk. Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/27/2020
3.5/4.0
It is an intelligent family film. Go to Full Review
Sergio Benítez Espinof 04/17/2020
The power of love, the relevance in the life of religion and, above all, faith, are fundamental cornerstones of the splendid script that Shyamalan writes here. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/25/2011
C
Earnest, overly familiar coming-of-age tale Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tyler G May 16 A child's version of theological doubt that asks a cast of actors known for over-the-top performances to turn themselves down to a whisper. So many, "WTF?" laugh out loud moments of confusion the director clearly didn't intend to be funny. A plot-less movie about a kid who doesn't sound like any kid I have ever met. A weird, heavy-handed, pretty bad movie with a cringey final scene that doesn't know what it wants to be. Rosie O'Donnell and Julia Styles are shining redemptions in a sea of bad. See more thiago s @Thiagostone Apr 4 Filme fraco, o roteiro é ruim, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens sao ruins, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom. See more 03/05/2020 I had read in an article that M. Night Shyamalan was kind of disappointed with this movie... I think he should re-consider that thought. He stated that he wanted people to be touched by it and identify with the work he produces, yet this movie provides exactly that! See more 05/18/2018 Wide Awake is about a child who is searching for God. The reason for his search relates to the death of his grandfather, but the movie doesn’t do the best job of explaining what he wants out of God if his search is successful. The boy, played by Joseph Cross, is kind of obnoxious. I think they were aiming for precocious, but his antics are so naïve and misguided it comes across as annoying. He damages his relationship with everyone around him in pursuit of this selfish journey, and it takes until late in the third act for him to finally start being nice to someone. I kept waiting for one of these people he was mistreating to turn out to be a physical representation of God to teach him the moral of the story (who knew how close I was.) The shift from being selfish to selfless comes too late in the film, and I never fully got the impression that he understood why things got better for him when he was good to others. It doesn’t help that everyone around him enables him, including the nuns and priests who are ridiculously liberal and accepting. All that being said...I cried watching Wide Awake. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but the emotions of loss that the kid is going through, and the powerful scenes between him and Robert Loggia were enough to push me over the edge. Despite all the ridiculous things that happen and all the frustrating things the main character does, when it comes to losing loved ones I can relate. There is an underlying heart in Wide Awake that worked better than anything else the movie was doing, and I wish they tapped into it more. They should have abandoned the comedy, because it was never funny for even one second. Rosie O’Donnell and Camryn Manheim in this movie as nuns trying to get some laughs, but they struck out every time. I don’t know if we’re expected to laugh at the main character exploring other religions as a path to God, but if we are then the writing failed at that. If they steered more into the emotion, and explored this kid’s need to let go of his grief, I think Wide Awake could have been a winner. As it stands, it’s not the worst film, but it is forgettable. See more 09/28/2017 This being M. Night Shyamalan's debut, he described it as "a comedy that he hoped would also make people cry." Thanks to glacial storytelling, a terrible soundtrack, and overbearing narration that manages to guy nearing all the emotion from the story, it does neither. See more 03/03/2017 It was good. It touched a subject that we don't think about very often and the fact that we see the story through a kid's eyes makes it interesting. However, I don't think that all of these are enough to make an impact as they should See more Read all reviews
Wide Awake

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Movie Info

Synopsis Struggling to adjust to his beloved grandfather's death, a boy (Joseph Cross) seeks understanding of God, life and injustice.
Director
M. Night Shyamalan
Producer
Cathy Konrad, Cary Woods
Screenwriter
M. Night Shyamalan
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Miramax Films, Woods Entertainment
Rating
PG (Language|Thematic Elements)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 20, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 4, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$258.2K
Runtime
1h 28m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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