This ambitious afterlife romance introduces provoking themes, but Williams eventually leads the way back to familiar hackneyed ground. The grandiose art direction provides moments of wonder, but the muddled script gives them no raison d'être.
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:36
Rotten:30
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: An insubstantial plot overshadows the beautiful, surreal scenery.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Four years after the tragic death of their children in a car accident, Dr. Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) is estranged from his wife, Annie (Annabella Sciora), a painter who finds solace in deep... Four years after the tragic death of their children in a car accident, Dr. Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) is estranged from his wife, Annie (Annabella Sciora), a painter who finds solace in deep and mystical expressionist landscapes. When flustered Annie calls him for support, he rushes out to help and is killed in a road accident. His ghost is greeted by an old mentor, Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who leads him in Ghost-of-Christmas-Past-style to Annie's side. But when Chris realizes that his adherence to the corporeal world is torture to himself and the living Annie, he breaks free of his Earthly bonds and dives into the visual smorgasbord that is the afterlife. There he splashes though clouds and gobs of technicolor paint in breathtaking landscapes suggested to him by Annie's paintings. From there, to grandiose Romanesque cities of flying children, Chris and his old dog are met by a gorgeous stewardess, who reveals herself as a nearly forgotten face from his past. As Chris reconciles with his children in a world where imagination is his palette, in the real world Annie becomes sicker and sicker, and finally enters the afterlife herself. Due to the myriad rules of the Other Side, she is unable to join Chris or her children, and Chris begins a fight for his future with his soul mate. [More]
Starring: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Annabella Sciorra, Max Von Sydow
Starring: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Annabella Sciorra, Max Von Sydow, Rosalind Chao
Director: Vincent Ward
Director: Vincent Ward
Screenwriter: Ronald Bass
Composer: Michael Kamen
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Reviews for What Dreams May Come
Unfortunately, this movie is much less than the sum of its inspirational parts.
Here's what's wrong with giant movie screens: You can fill them with extreme close-ups of Robin Williams' face!
Has two things going for it--its spectacular, Academy Award-nominated special effects and the fact that it ends. Everything else about this ridiculous, three-hanky film sends it sharply into nightmare.
For all its deep thinking and strong feelings, What Dreams May Come suffers from an overwhelming banality.
`What Dreams May Come' is so breathtaking, so beautiful, so bold in its imagination!
For all its fabulous imagery and occasional dab-your-eyes moments, What Dreams May Come never rises to the wonderment of its own irresistible conviction -- that love can live beyond the grave.
A treasure of the imagination; a spectrum that reminds us that anything is possible when you are making movies.
Aside from having one of the worst titles in recent film memory, "What Dreams May Come" fails by trying to be all things to all people.
You'll rarely unearth another film with such visual imagination and glorious use of color.
"What Dreams May Come" is a like an abstract painting, full of vivid brushstrokes that hint at deeper meaning.
Not to say that this disappointing romantic fantasy is derivative, but it seems more like a hodge-podge assembly of scenes from other movies than a cohesive feature film.
In both concept and execution, they testify to painfully banal sensibilities.
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