"What Dreams May Come"

Occasionally I like to turn back the clock just a little bit, and review a book or movie that is a few years old, but by some turn of events some folks may not have read the book, or seen the movie. I only do this in rare instances where I give the movie or book a very high rating. The movie I’m about to review is a 20.00 out of 10.00. To say I recommend seeing this picture if you have not already, would be the understatement of the century.

“What Dreams May Come.” Is just simply the best film ever made in my humble opinion. I have seen thousands of movies, and while I have never been able to put a true order to them, I do have a top 10 list of the best pictures ever made, and every time I try to figure out which one would occupy my #1 spot, there is only one movie that ever comes to mind.

This film is another one of those strange instances, where it managed to sneak on and off the big screen, be released on DVD, and still manage to sneak under my radar. One day someone mentioned this movie to me, and of course being a Robin Williams fan, I thought “Hey I’ll take a chance on this one,” and rented it. Scene after Scene with my jaw on the ground I watched, laughed, cried, and thought about life as we know it. I just could not believe that a masterpiece of this magnitude had eluded me. I ran out and bought it, and it seems to me that every time I watch it, the scenes I have watched a hundred times before, still invoke even stronger emotions then the previous screening.

Robin Williams plays a character named Chris. He chances to meet his soul mate, fellow American Annie (played by Annabella Sciorra) while both are on vacation in Switzerland. They fall in love, marry, and have 2 beautiful children together. Life is heaven on earth, but that heaven on earth was not to last. Both their son and daughter were killed one morning on the way to school in a tragic car accident. Annie tries to live through the grief, but the grief eventually wins out, and she ends up in a mental institution. Regardless of the pain, Chris trying to be the strong one throughout this tragedy moves on with his life. After several failed attempts to help his Annie get better, he does finally succeed. She comes home and they begin their life as just two soul mates without their beloved children. You would think that in itself might make a great movie, but this is only the very beginning of the story. As cruel as fate is some times in life, Annie is dealt the final blow when Chris is killed in a car accident. She is now left alone with her husband, son, and daughter all dead.

Chris begins his life after death having trouble adapting to the fact that his existence didn’t end the day he died on earth. A special guide (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) is sent to help Chris acclimate to heaven, and with some help Chris finally gets the hang of things except for one problem. His soul mate Annie is still alive on earth, and he is alone without her. As Chris is dealing with his problems adjusting to the afterlife, Annie is dealing with her own. Her entire family gone, she is left with only one solution. Before the doctors can re-commit her into the mental hospital, she takes her life hoping she will be rejoined with her soul mate and family.

The special guide for Chris tells him that Annie has died. He is ecstatic that he will now finally be reunited with his Annie, but this is not how things work in heaven and hell. Suicides do not go to heaven. Chris being faced with eternity without his wife decides that rules must be broken. He refuses to believe that Annie can not be brought back from her own personal hell that she must re-live over and over again forever. Chris sets off for hell in search of his Annie with a tracker (played by Max Von Sydow) and his special guide. At this point in the story I must stop. The rest you must see for yourself. In no way have I spoiled any of the fantastic scenes, or any part of the story itself.

How many thousands of times has a director ruined a movie just trying to tell simple tale here on earth, and yet Director Vincent Ward takes a very complex script as this, and not only does it with Genius at every conceivable angle, but the story is told on earth, in heaven, and in hell. The sets are so masterfully created, that you have no idea at any point where reality ends and C.G. begins. From the joys of each person’s own heavenly realm, to the darkest despairs of a forgotten hell, this movie is the best piece of film ever made.

If you have not seen this movie yet, I implore you. Do not take my word, or the words of thousands of other people who have been moved by this movie. Go buy (not rent) this movie, and watch it a few times. Trust me it will take a few times through to catch all the glory of his work of art.

My rating for this movie is 20.00 out of 10.00 Hey it’s my site I can get away with it just once. :-)