Wide Awake (PG) ** 1/2 (out of ****) The occasionally affecting Wide Awake is a strange paradox of a film. Although it is clearly targeted at children, this sometimes humorous but often somber meditation on death and religion will mystify most young moviegoers. On the same token, its rather facile treatment of its serious themes will leave older audiences less than satisfied. The existence of God becomes a major concern for the film's protagonist, 10-year-old Catholic school student Joshua Beal (newcomer Joseph Cross, in a promising debut) after his beloved grandfather (Robert Loggia) dies of bone marrow cancer. Joshua cannot comprehend why he had to pass on, and his fifth grade school year turns into a nine-month long search (told in three phases: "The Questions," "The Signs," and "The Answers") for an explanation from a higher power--that is, if one indeed exists. For a kid-aimed film, this is pretty heavy, heady subject matter, perhaps a little too much so to engage the young 'uns. But writer-director M. Night Shyamalan does not address these lofty issues satisfactorily enough for adults, offering simple answers and easy miracles. I suppose a compromise of sorts was necessary to reach audiences at the opposite ends of the age spectrum, but in hitting middle ground he reaches no one. More accessible to the tots are the subplots that hover around Joshua's quest, such as his dealings with his carefree best friend Dave (Timothy Reifsnyder), a school bully, and a portly schoolmate who desperately wants a friend. While some humorous amusement is to be had from these lighter threads, they degenerate into the manipulative, melodramatic hokum of those sappy "very special episodes" of sitcoms or, in the case of David, disease-themed afterschool specials. Granted, a few isolated moments involving these stories and the main plot achieve some level of poignance, but that is more due to the heartfelt, earnest performances of the cast (which also includes Rosie O'Donnell, Denis Leary, and Dana Delany) than Shyamalan's writing or directing. Towards the end, the newly enlightened Joshua lends the film its title when he declares himself "wide awake." Audiences of all ages will have some difficulty saying the same for themselves. To borrow the metaphor, they will indeed be awake (OK, the really little ones may not be--literally), but likely in that alert-but-still-drowsy state when one first gets up in the morning.
Michael Dequina mrbrown@ucla.edu | michael_jordan@geocities.com | mj23@the18thhole.com mrbrown@michaeljordanfan.com | mj23@michaeljordanfan.com mrbrown@iname.com | mst3k@digicron.com
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