by Jennifer Parsons
Editor in Chief
If special effects surpassed the importance of a movie’s premise, “What Dreams May Come” could quite possibly be a hit.
Unfortunately, no amount of enhanced camera tricks, whether it be the closest depiction of heaven or hell, could have saved this dragged-out storyline, which even at nearly two hours feels like an eternity.
After the first 30 minutes, viewers begin to notice the uncomfortable theater seats and remember errands, such as the bank and the grocery store, they needed to run earlier in the day. In fact, if there had been a little bit of light in the theater, balancing checkbooks may have been an option.
The premise is simple. Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams, an Academy Award winner for “Good Will Hunting”) is a pediatrician who must not only endure the death of both his children (played by Jessica Brooks Grant and Josh Paddock), but the guilt and blame that his wife, Annie, played by Annabella Sciorra (“Cop Land”), feels.
Within the first 20 minutes, if that, Chris also dies in a car accident, the same way his children were killed.
Not long after, Annie, a free-spirited artist, commits suicide. Who can blame the poor woman? Both her children and now her husband are dead. Talk about bad luck.
In his heaven, where all is supposedly good, Chris is told of his wife’s suicide. He is actually quite happy, believing that he and his wife will now be together in eternal bliss.
Wrong, Chris. Death by suicide does not promise heaven, only hell, according to “What Dreams May Come.”
The remainder of the movie is Chris’ escapade in his afterlife. He ventures through heaven and hell in search of his soul-mate. Upon his mouse hunt, Chris runs into others, some who seem vaguely familiar to him and who he eventually recognizes as his son, daughter and mentor, all taking on the appearance of others.
According to director Vincent Ward (“The Navigator”) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Ron Bass (“Rain Man,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding”), the afterlife is what a person makes of it.
Chris’ takes place in his wife’s paintings, apparent by all of the colorful imagery.
He walks on water (literally), squashes flowers into paint and, when he imagines the birds to have turquoise wings, they miraculously do.
It is not so much the plot of “What Dreams May Come” that makes it a miss, but how little the characters play into it. Only a small amount of sorrow is shown by Chris after the death of his children, although it seems to be one of Annie’s main concerns.
Also, Chris’ goal throughout the film is to reunite with his wife, then his children, but hardly any time is spent on the actual reunion of either.
Both the plot and the characters are underdeveloped, which is unfortunate because the idea could have expanded into so much more.
If only Bass and Ward had added more emotion and dialogue into the script, “What Dreams May Come” could have pulled at someone’s heart strings.
The most heartfelt scene in the movie is at the end, which makes the viewer smile, laugh and ponder fate and the afterlife. To save money and time on a movie better left on video, let us just say that it is quite possible that sometimes people meet for a reason and not just by coincidence.
“What Dreams May Come” is a long courageous journey that should have an enormous ending; instead it is a story of a man’s dragged-out search of dreams which may or may not ever be fulfilled.
“What Dreams May Come,” rated PG-13, also stars Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., (“Jerry Maguire”) and Academy Award nominee Max von Sydow (“Pelle the Conqueror”).
