Wide Awake (1998 film) Summary
During his fifth grade year, ten-year-old Joshua A. Beal begins a personal search to
find answers about life and death — a journey triggered by the passing of his
beloved grandfather.[2]
Josh attends Waldron Mercy Academy, a private Catholic boys' school
in Philadelphia. He says that boys who wear a uniform do not smile much. His best
friend Dave is often up to mischief, finding ways to cut class. Small for his age, he
often gets picked on.
Very close to his grandfather, he misses him terribly. The adults in his world have not
been able to convince him that he is in good hands, so he sets out on a personal
mission to find God.
In their varying ways Josh is guided on his metaphorical journey by Dave and
a Philadelphia Phillies-loving nun who teaches at Waldron.[3] Dave creates a
distraction so that Josh can sneak into the girls' school to meet the cardinal, who he
hopes can help him with his faith. However, seeing him up close makes him see that
he's a fragile old man. Josh tries to convince his family to travel to Rome over the
winter break, but his parents quickly realise it's part of his quest for God and shoot
down his proposal.
Hope, a girl who helps him in the girls' school, becomes Josh's first crush. They meet
again at a boy's birthday party, and he confesses his feelings for her. Another day,
when the boys' school is invited to watch a ceremony in which the girls' school offer
flowers to the virgin, Hope gives her rose to Josh for his quest.
A series of events happen with Josh's classmates. One oddly kidnaps the school's
framed portrait of the pope, his bully has to leave the school for insufficient funds,
after getting stuck in a turnstile with Frank he finally agrees to spend time with him
and Dave is diagnosed with epilepsy.
