Rating: 
Summary: Issues....
Review: This is one of those films that you will pass right by. I did, for months; the film was in my libray's DVD collection and I gave it nary a glance.Until I realized who the director was. M. Night Shyamalan has quickly become one of my favorite writer/directors. His films have deep religious themes of faith, hope, and redemption. Unlike 95% of Hollywood fare - in which film is hung on nothing (thematically empty) - Shyamalan's work uses the ghost story, the comic book superhero, and alien visitation ("The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", "Signs") as frameworks for his message of redemtpion - his search for God. So, after finding that "Wide Awake" is the Shymalan film that immediately preceeded "The Sixth Sense", I watched it. I honestly must say I was not expecting much, just some faltering steps by a young filmmaker on the rise. But, I was very pleasantly surprised by the depth and maturity of this film! Shymalan understands that the most profound themes are communicated through the smallest events. This film abounds with cherished meaning, those bright mileposts on the road of childhood that point to maturity. Young Joshua's search for God is successful, but not in the way he expected. This film, despite a somewhat silly encounter in the very last scene, is a triumph of understatement and beauty. It is a tender gem that will more than likely remain hidden in the stacks. I hope you discover it, like we have, and will cherish it forever.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Gem
Review: This is one of those films that you will pass right by. I did, for months; the film was in my libray's DVD collection and I gave it nary a glance. Until I realized who the director was. M. Night Shyamalan has quickly become one of my favorite writer/directors. His films have deep religious themes of faith, hope, and redemption. Unlike 95% of Hollywood fare - in which film is hung on nothing (thematically empty) - Shyamalan's work uses the ghost story, the comic book superhero, and alien visitation ("The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", "Signs") as frameworks for his message of redemtpion - his search for God. So, after finding that "Wide Awake" is the Shymalan film that immediately preceeded "The Sixth Sense", I watched it. I honestly must say I was not expecting much, just some faltering steps by a young filmmaker on the rise. But, I was very pleasantly surprised by the depth and maturity of this film! Shymalan understands that the most profound themes are communicated through the smallest events. This film abounds with cherished meaning, those bright mileposts on the road of childhood that point to maturity. Young Joshua's search for God is successful, but not in the way he expected. This film, despite a somewhat silly encounter in the very last scene, is a triumph of understatement and beauty. It is a tender gem that will more than likely remain hidden in the stacks. I hope you discover it, like we have, and will cherish it forever.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Movie
Review: This movie blessed me greatly. It shows how when we seek God as a child, he will make himself known.
Rating:
Summary: "Ditto..."
Review: This movie is also on my top five. It is a must see for anyone. It will touch all hearts!
Rating:
Summary: Funny and inspiring
Review: This movie was great, and it teaches an important lesson about God
Rating:
Summary: So touching
Review: This movies is great for all ages. It's about a little boy named Joshua who goes to a catholic school. Through out the movie he searches for god and flashes back to memories of his grandpa. All the while trying to deal with the loss of his grandpa. Josh does this through asking a ton of questions and absorbing as much information as he can. The ending is one of the best endings you could hope for in a movie. I got a little teary eyed every now and then. The cast is great. Rosie O'Donnel plays one of Josh's teachers, Julia Styles is Josh's older sister and there are a bunch of other contributers too. I don't think this movie ever got a whole lot of attention, but it sure deserves it. It just goes to show you that you can always find a good movie hiding in an unexpected place.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this movie!!!
Review: This was one of the most heartwarming, funny, and uplifting movies I have ever seen. I laughed and cried throughout the entire movie. This is a movie that I will buy and watch many times. It is a movie you can watch with anyone, there is no violence or profanity, which we see all too much in Hollywood today. I would recommend this movie to anyone!!
Rating:
Summary: What a treat!
Review: Warm, sweet, true-to-life, funny, great acting... and NO Catholic-bashing! Strongly recommend for adding to the home collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm! What can I tell you?...
Review: Well, as my title for this piece would suggest, I'm unsure what I think of this movie.
First of all, a lot of other reviewer's of this film have focused a bit on the Christian focus of this movie, which yes, it does have.
I should say too, that I am a practicing Christian, so I'm cool with that but...
It's just a tough movie to relate to, because it's a little too heavy / thought provoking for a kid's movie, while the main character is a kid. And it's too much of a kid character centred to be a grown-up's movie.
It's been a while since I was that young, and my kid's are at least 10 years of that age, and I can't remember thinking this deeply at that age.
I like Shyamalan, I bought this desperate for more Shyamalan after I got back from the cinema seeing "The Village" (Excellent movie, 5 stars, review pending...) and you can't get this DVD in Australia, so I bought it.
I've watched it twice, and I don't know, maybe I need to watch it again. Like I said to another Shyamalan fan at church, it almost plays like one of those old "live action" Disney movies, and I've got to say the transfer on DVD makes the movie look a lot older than it is, if you watch the trailer (the only "special feature" on the disc) you'd swear you were just about to watch a movie from the 70's.
The tag-line on the cover says "Rosie O'Donnell is Hilarious", I definately missed something, I think she's only in the movie for all of 20-25 mins, and she has been funnier.
Another reason I got this DVD was the cast sounded flawless, Rosie O'Donnell (A League of their Own), Dana Delaney (TV's China Beach), Denis O'Leary (The Sandlot, A Bug's Life), even Julia Stiles (for about 10 mins as Josh's sister) and directed by M. Night Shyamalan - how could you go wrong?
Anyway, I've given it 3 stars for the following reasons:
1. The quest for God IS important.
2. It DOES have some touching moments.
3. It DOES have the Shyamalan twist.
Recommendation: Maybe rent the movie first.
Rating:
Summary: The most sensitive, thought-provoking, in my library!
Review: What a perfectly beautiful movie for all ages! I have many VHS & DVD movies, but NOTHING has touched me as much as "Wide Awake". I constantly recommend it to others & have never heard anyone disappointed from having watched it.
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