"It's not about understanding! It's about NOT giving up."
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (PG-13) 
Reviewed October 2, 1998 - Check out the What Dreams May Come Website.
Life and death, Heaven and Hell. When pediatrician Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) dies suddenly in an auto accident, he finds himself in a Heaven of his own making. It's a world of rich color and texture, created out of Chris' imagination and with seemingly endless possibilities. With his afterlife mentor Albert (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) by his side, Chris discovers that he's in the fantasy world of his dreams, a world he can shape and reshape, almost at will. The only problem is that his wife and soul-mate Annie (Annabella Sciorra) isn't there with him, an issue which is a source of pain for Chris throughout the film. Annie, of course, is also painfully struggling through her loss on Earth, and thus you have the heart of What Dreams May Come: a tale of two lost souls in desperate need of each other.
First, the highlights. With half the film set in Heaven and half of it set in Hell, What Dreams May Come is an absolute wonder of a visual piece. The combinations of color, texture and imagery presented in this film are stunning, making it a real treat to just stare at. The visions of Heaven and Hell that we get from production designer Eugenio Zanetti (Restoration) are alternately beautiful and haunting, and will surely be noted whenever this movie is discussed. Add to that a couple of compelling performances by Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra, who manage to portray both unbounded joy and solitary despair with equal conviction, and you end up with one very likeable film.
Still, What Dreams May Come is not exactly a perfect picture. Perhaps due to some of the weighty issues that this film touches upon, What Dreams doesn't always present the most logical or cohesive story, on occasion suffering from some very abrupt transitions between worlds. Using constant flashbacks to flesh out Chris and Annie's past life together is also a hit-and-miss technique here, often dragging in subplots that distract from the main story. Fortunately, these flaws aren't fatal in terms of the film's overall effectiveness, but they are nevertheless noticeable. The total effect is an imperfect yet genuinely captivating picture, and one that's generally worth seeing. It's true that you may not get "swept away" to the extent that the filmmakers would like, and it's true that you may not get an explanation to many things that happen in the film, but there's enough here to make this a truly unique and memorable moviegoing experience.
Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!
mdastrup@worldonline.dk
gives this movie stars:
"I Give the movie 4 stars because Robbin Williams and Annabella Sciorra
where fantastic in their roles. The Children (Josh Paddock and Jessica
Brooks Grant) also played very well, they both had scenes with the actor
titan (Mr. Williams), and you notice them, not as . To bad they didn´t
have any more scenes. So the acting was great, and if the acting is great,
the movie works almost regardless of effects and plot. Watch the Danish
"DOGME" films." (5/27/01)
jessfroggy@prodigy.net
gives this movie stars: "The
idea for this movie wasn very good and thats about all that was good about
it. The movie ran way to long with it continious meaningless flashbacks
every five minutes. the bottom line is this movie is watchable if u drink
alot of coffee" (8/18/99)
Jessica gives this movie stars: "This
is a amazing movie" (3/26/99)
gillianlover@hotmail.com
gives this movie stars: "Terrible.
Overly soppy, terrible effects, and no plot. Give it up, guys. Emotional
issues only create good movies if they are dealt with in the right way.
In this one, it was the wrong way." (2/28/99)
anonymous entry gives this movie stars: "I
was reviewing some of the other ratings and trying to determine how What
Dreams May Come was rated higher than a movie like Fargo (for example).
I don't often consider walking out of movies, but What Dreams May Come
had me leaning in that direction. I admit, the special effects were cool,
but it was just so slow. I kept waiting for something to happen. I hated
this movie and you couldn't pay me to sit through it again. They could've
done so much with this idea, yet opted to take the easy way out with the
traditional happy ending. I think that they should've explored hell more,
and put less emphasis on how much these two were in love. Give me a break...it
was so corny." (11/20/98)
nickblaskowski@hotmail.com
gives this movie stars: "I
saw The Waterboy first,then went to see this,cause I had just started the
book,and I loved this movie.Robin Williams was great!And I kind of wanna
die after seeing this,because life after death looks so cool,and you can
see everybody's reaction to your death,even the people who hated you.I'm
joking about wanting to die after seeing this movie..........what was I
saying???????????" (11/18/98) (Boy,
you had us worried for a second there... :-)
-- fuzzydog)
ronin@dccnet.com
gives this movie stars: "I
thought this was one of the most heart-felt, thoughtful, powerful and effective
movies of the year. It is definatly oscar bound. read my review at http://www.user.dccnet.com/fester1/ronin" (11/15/98)
lushnia@aol.com gives
this movie stars: "I
Felt Robin Williams was out of his depth. It's an interesting film to watch
and I thought Annabella Sciorra was very good in her role, but there was
a lack of emotion between parents and children, who seemed to be used only
as props. Williams has only been really good in roles that required him
to over-act and this one needed more subtlety than he's capable of. Still,
it's an interesting experience." (10/15/98)
kannon@wested.org
gives this movie stars:
"As parents of a pre-teen boy and a prepubescent girl, this movie
hit VERY close to home and I liked the way it touched on "heavy"
issues such as life, death, and love. Besides, I want the afterlife to
be that way, don't you?" (10/14/98)
grayla@msn.com gives
this movie stars: "one
of the best tear jerkers of all time. absolutely wonderful" (10/4/98)
