What Dreams May Come

What Dreams May Come

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Editorial Reviews

DOCTOR CHRIS NIELSEN MEETS HIS TRUE SOUL MATE ANNIE, MARRIESHER AND HAS TWO CHILDREN. THE CHILDREN DIE IN A CAR ACCIDENT, AND CHRIS DIES FOUR YEARS AFTER THAT. ENDING UP IN HEAVEN, HE IS GUIDED BY FRIENDLY ANGEL ALBERT THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE, AND HE IS REUNITED WITH HIS DOG AND CHILDREN.

Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they're just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He's met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife--a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie's own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.

The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery--he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story's impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there's no denying Eugenio Zanetti's triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic. --Shannon Gee

Customer Reviews

What Dreams May Come (Mine came true!)

Reviewed by Lindsey Crawford, 2010-02-01

This DVD came in a timely manor, in the condition it was said to be in, and It was a great movie. A++!

VERY DISAPPOINTED

Reviewed by C. Patterson, 2010-01-13

I read the book when it first came out and have re-read it thru the years, as it's one of my all time favorites. I always thought it would make a wonderful movie and waited for years until this one finally came out in the late 90s....I was so excited when I heard that it was finally going to be made into a movie...until I saw the movie. I don't believe I have ever been more disappointed in my life in a book-to-movie movie.

They took way too many liberties with regards to changes in the movie that it almost made it seem like a totally different story. By killing off the children (which did not happen in the book) it made it seem like the grief Ann would have felt at losing Chris would not have been life shattering enough. THEN they killed him off. The point of the whole story was the closness between Chris and Ann...THEIR bond...which was stronger than anything else in their lives. That was the point of the story. And while I love Robin Williams, I felt that his portrayal of Chris bordered on silliness. Hollywood even had to change Chris' profession...I guess him being a writer wasn't acceptable enough.....they made him a doctor.

To say I was highly disappointed in the movie is an understatement. I don't blame Richard Matheson for being disappointed as well..... " I was disappointed in it, because it changed a good deal of my story, and I thought by their desire to have the two children die before him - they did that because they felt that if she committed suicide and left children behind, the audience would not like her, which, you know, may or may not be true - but it made for terrible complications, I thought, especially when they decided not even to identify them in the afterlife but to have them disguised as various other people." Richard Matheson - quote.

Well, said Richard. I guess Hollywood felt that they knew more about your book than you did. Evidently not because the movie, in my opinion, was AWFUL!!!!! I do give credit to special effects, though......without them, the movie was a disaster.

FORGET THE MOVIE..........READ THE BOOK!!!!

I can't get tired of viewing this movie

Reviewed by J. Munyon, 2010-01-08

Aside from traditional teachings about heaven or hell, this movie explores possibilities beyond what most of us ever consider feasible and therefore we tend to disregard this kind of thinking before we acknowledge the beauty and transcending wonder of just might be the best movie to define the kind of love most of us really, honestly desire to be part of - both sides of such a depth of loving another person. Anabella Sciorra is a an absolutely beautiful woman who was able to find her prince charming fairy tale type partner and then through accidental death loses him and finds herself unable to get past the grieving over her loss. Robin Williams is the character married to Anabella's character, and the film takes us through several channels of him discovering heaven to be quite different than he anticipated. Then this fantastic adventure of imagination and splendor includes Robin Williams deciding in his role to seek out what may or may not be conquerable regarding the experiences of heaven and hell. Normally I don't like extremely serious dramas about very wealthy people who are so successful in life, because of how hard I've worked at it myself and just never have found open doors for me. But I couldn't help getting caught up in this film because in my heart I still hope for that kind of love, that kind of commitment to be reciprocated in a loving relationship, and this film does a super job of challenging my attention and some of the elements of the writer's imagination are simply put, fascinating beyond anything I had seen before I viewed this film. It came out almost 12 years ago, but the special effects and depth of entertainment would be just as well received today. The casting is excellent, the sets are excellent, and I recommend this film 100%. I have watched this film as often as any I own, and still can't get tired of viewing it.

unsatisfied

Reviewed by Pamela S. Hernandez, 2009-12-19

i ordered this in novemeber and was sent an email saying it was shipped on nov 21 i still have not recieved, have contacted seller 5 times and recieved no contact from them, buyer beware i wouldnt suggest anyone order from them.

Fantastic romp with loads of style

Reviewed by Noah Hallett, 2009-12-12

First of all let me say that this movie is HARD to watch. It starts out with tragedy and takes a very long time to swoop out of it - in the end it is an uplifting movie, and amazingly crafted both visually and philosophically - but for the majority of the movie it grips you hard by your emotional core and doesn't let go.
The visual style is incredible, the special effects way ahead of their time, and a take on both cinematic presentation and the afterlife unlike any I've ever seen before.

It can be at times a little heavy-handed and overly serious, but with both incredibly strong performances across the board and a deeply compelling story. This movie definitely goes high on my list as a little-known must see movie.