Wide Awake

 
 

Overall Rating:

 
 

Summary:

A young boy tries to make sense of the loss of his grandfather.  He wants to know that his grandfather is alright and made it to heaven.  He spends most of the movie trying to talk to God, or find someone who can talk to him on his behalf.  Since he attends Catholic School, this would seem to be a simple task, but isn't.  The film has an impressive cast- Denis Leary and Dana Delany portray his doctor/parents and Robert Loggia plays the boy's grandfather through a series of flashbacks, but even they can't help the film find an audience.  The children this movie is supposedly geared for will be bored, and adults such as myself (ok, stop laughing), will find it difficult to accept the moralizing of a child under 10.

There was a lot of effort wasted in this film.  Denis Leary walks through his part, Dana Delaney has slightly more material to work with and is somewhat distant. Robert Loggia has the fullest role, even greater than that of the son.  It is through his scenes that the movie struggles to come alive and have some sort of message but these scenes last for unsatisfyingly brief periods.


 Spoiler (Plot points Revealed):

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

There isn't really much need to write up spoilers for this film.  There was some attempt at making a few style points by having a pre-teen Jesus figure, but to me, it was fairly obvious what that kid's part was well before he had a speaking part in the end.  I doubt this movie will last long in the the theaters.
 



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