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Movies / On DVD / Wide Awake
Wide Awake

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Wide Awake (1998)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:12

Rotten:17

Average Rating:4.9/10

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In M. Night Shyamalan's first Hollywood feature, WIDE AWAKE, 10-year-old Joshua (Joseph Cross) embarks on a spiritual quest after his beloved grandfather (Robert Loggia) succumbs to bone marrow... In M. Night Shyamalan's first Hollywood feature, WIDE AWAKE, 10-year-old Joshua (Joseph Cross) embarks on a spiritual quest after his beloved grandfather (Robert Loggia) succumbs to bone marrow cancer. The determined child is resolved to find out--from God or other sources--what happens to the spirits of the dead. Joshua's sports-loving teacher, Sister Terry (Rosie O'Donnell), advises him to approach a cardinal who is coming to visit the nearby girls school. While there, he meets a young girl and falls for her. As the school year progresses, Joshua continues his search for answers and finds them in very unexpected places. Though markedly different from Shyamalan's moody (and more well-known) films, THE SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE, the movie does involve a search for truth and a meditation on death--themes present in all of his projects. [More]

Starring: Joseph Cross, Timothy Reifsnyder, Dana Delany, Denis Leary

Starring: Joseph Cross, Timothy Reifsnyder, Dana Delany, Denis Leary, Robert Loggia, Rosie O'Donnell, Camryn Manheim, Vicki Giunta, Antoine McLean, Joey Perillo, Michael Shulman, Julia Stiles, Michael Craig Bigwood

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Producer: Cathy Konrad, Cary Woods
Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan
Composer: Edmund Choi

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Wide Awake

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/03/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
07/22/06
Reel.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
07/22/06
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
08/29/05
Todd Jorgenson
Todd Jorgenson
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/01/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
05/29/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
New Times

A pretentious, preachy first movie from an arguably great filmmaker.

comment Comment
04/28/03
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

The film pursues its sensitive material with the appropriate degree of care, but the direction by M. Night Shyamalan turns potentially provocative moments into dull eddies of melodrama.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Film Threat

The movie's greatest strength is in its willingness to admit that the mysteries of life and death are as difficult for children as for adults.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer

No review available.

comment Comment
08/15/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

In a moviemaking world dominated by attention to secular matters, the parochial Wide Awake is a refreshing change of pace.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Kim Williamson
Kim Williamson
Boxoffice Magazine

This wonder-filled film proves that questions can be powerful allies on a spiritual journey.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/13/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

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.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An interesting little drama about a youth's quest for proof of God.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

For those who want to see something soft, without a bite to it, this is the one to chew on.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

What better place to look for God than in a Catholic school, right?

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
rec.arts.movies.reviews

There is quite a bit of drama in the film but most of it is internal.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/01/00
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Wide Awake

July 20, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Lady" Is All Wet; "Ex" Is Not Super; "House" Is Scary, "Clerks" Is Funny
This week we've got some magic in ordinary dwellings (M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" and "Monster House") and some funny couples ("My Super... More...

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