What Dreams May Come | Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr.

What Dreams May Come | Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. | An Underrated Movie

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What Dreams May Come

	What Dreams May Come Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. Polygram Filmed Entertainment, 2003 average customer review:based on 457 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Sight to Behold

I remember a short movie trailer for the George Lucas film Willow and that trailer promised us a movie where you forget what you know as reality. Willow never delivered on that promise, but What Dreams May Come sure does. This is a film that brings you to a place beyond belief and keeps you discovering more as you go. While most dramas give you character and emotional development very few give you development on reality itself.

I can't get past the imagery of this film. This movie is all about being in Heaven and later on Hell. It is fantastic. It takes from settings that can only come from works of art to places that only Dante and Milton could have imagined. You get settings of extreme coolness, massive beauty, grand majesty, eerie melancholy and a few others in between. Reality definitely doesn't apply in this universe they put you in. Makes me wonder why Lucas ever dared make such a claim on a mere fantasy film. This movie is in the realm of mythological, spiritual and psychological metaphors that come to life. The concepts of Heaven and Hell you see on this film are truly fascinating.

This isn't an action film so don't bother asking. This isn't truly an adventure film although there is plenty of places to go that give an element of adventure. This is a love story by the highest order. You will get hit with some powerful dramatic impact that will both touch your heartstrings and even inspire you. Robin Williams along with the rest of the cast pull this emotional level off to a tee. You also get some fascinating character twists and development to match.

This is definitely a special effects movie and spared no technique to accomplish that. You get some grand matte work, detailed miniatures, lots of costumes and makeup effects, conventional camera effects and some really cool CG work. At times the special effects don't quite take you from reality as you can tell what the effect is, but that can easily forgivable considering it still accomplishes the goal of suspending your disbelief. The music is mostly of an uplifting and emotional sort, which is a good thing. Just don't expect any real dynamic in musical events.

What Dreams May Come is definitely for people with active imaginations. If you really want to see how far filmmakers can push the envelope in regards to twisting reality this is as good as it gets. Just remember this is a highly dramatic film so if you have a hard time watching that sort of movie remember: you have been warned. If you can get into a good dramatic love story that defies what conventional love stories should be then don't deny yourself this treat.

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An Underrated Movie

This is a movie for which, I confess, I have a weakness, despite its flaws (the scene is which the lovely, self-assured Leona reveals herself to be Chris's own neglected daughter never fails to bring tears to my normally unsentimental eyes). Not only is it visually stunning; it does have some fairly profound things to say about love, despair, reconciliation, sacrifice, second chances, and our infinite importance to one another.

I can't help but be amused by all the Heaven/Hell comments. This story is not meant to be a serious comment on the nature of Heaven and Hell. The setting is purely a plot device - a way to deal tangibly with the ideas presented. The movie (and book) are not concerned with the feasibility of traveling from one literal afterworld to another; they are concerned with the worlds we create for ourselves in this life and the way in which we can rescue and be rescued by sacrificial love. This is not an "inaccurate" presentation of the Christian afterlife; this is Orpheus and Eurydice, and should be judged as such.

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Enjoyable, though a bit of a let down.

When I was 21, I moved to London, and lived in a flatshare where I didn't get on well with my flatmates, and didn't know anyone else. So some nights after work, I'd go to the bookshop in WHSmith in Victoria train station and flick through the books...where I came across "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson - it was so gripping that I read it standing there and then, in the bookshop before even buying it. Later I sought out books by the same author, and though a completely different book in every way, the same thing happened with "What Dreams May Come" (one of the most moving books I've ever read - proved to me that I was more of a romatic than I'd admitted to myself, hehe)...

When I recently bought this film (some time later), I was in a somewhat emotionally fragile mood & seeking something uplifting and life affirming (& to restore my confidence in love and romance).
This film was certainly enjoyable, and Robin Williams plays the main character with heart...but the it just fell short of what I was expecting, and hoping for...

Of course the book is in a class of it's own, and this doesn't touch it...but nor was I expecting it to...and unfortunately this film doesn't even reach the lesser standard I was hoping for it. I would have given this 3 stars, but for the fact that it evokes the memories of the greatness and emotional heights reached by the book...and thus I couldn't give this story any less than 4 stars.

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