“Awakenings” is a story about a neurological researcher, Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who is hired by a hospital in the Bronx to work with various patients. Dr. Sayer’s previous research studies have dealt with primarily earthworms, and this new job is a dramatic change of scenery. Dr. Sayer is exposed to the chronic conditions of patients such as post-encephalitic syndrome, which becomes the main focus of the film. The experiments and research begin when Dr. Sayer’s curiosity is aroused by patients in “catatonic states.” He learns each patient’s responses and experiments with trying to connect the patients to the world. Communications with other doctors and scholars lead Dr. Sayer to a presentation on a drug called “L-Dopa,” which is commonly used for patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Sayer’s qualitative and quantitative research lead him to make a theory that each patient that had post-encephalitic syndrome suffered extremely aggressive tics and tremors but it seemed as if they were still as stone. This new drug inspires Dr. Sayer to conduct experiments with the patients in his care, and he gets the consent of Leonard Lowe’s mother to go ahead with the L-Dopa treatments. After Leonard gets a 500mg dose of L-Dopa, he miraculously “awakens” from his 30 year absence. The drug enables him to continue his previous functions and to have somewhat a normal life. Soon after Leonard’s rise from the deep, Dr. Sayer places all the patients on this new drug. Every patient begins to “awaken” to a new and more modern world. Leonard and the other patients experience full conscious control over their own bodies, and begin to pick up the pieces from when they “fell asleep.” After awhile, however, the drug begins to fail no matter how much the dosage is increased. Each patient eventually beings to fall victim to the previous catatonic states slowly, with tics and tremors as the primary symptoms. The film is greatly portrayed and acted by Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro, and has a heart-wrenching message to tell. It inspires a sense of hope in research and experimentation, and the possibilities that emerge as miracles. “Awakenings” is an extraordinary adventure of the human spirit and it accurately portrays how research can be used to open new doorways in medicine.