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Starring Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr., Max Von Sydow, Rosalind Chao.
Written by Ron Bass. Directed by Vincent Ward. Production Design by Eugenio Zanetti.
Chris Nielsen (Williams) is a dedicated doctor in love with his painter wife Annie (Sciorra). They met while sailing on a beautiful lake nestled in the spectacular meadows between the picturesque Alp mountains. They quickly fell in love and were soon married. As the years rolled by, they produced two lovely children. One day Chris and Annie sends them off to school in the family minivan driven by their nanny, and the kids are killed in a car crash. Chris and Annie are devastated, and find it difficult to go on. Four years later, Chris is killed by an out of control car while trying to help an injured driver in another vehicle. Chris goes to heaven, but each person's heaven is a creation of his own mind. Chris's is a vividly colourful recreation of Annie's paintings of where they wished to grow old together. He's met by a messenger in heaven Albert (Gooding Jr.), who tries to help Chris accept his death, and explain his new "life". He also meets a beautiful woman (Chao) who takes Chris to her version of heaven, a beautiful city in the sky where souls float and play together. But soon, Albert learns that Annie has committed suicide, and is trapped in the "hell" of her own denial over what she has done. Chris leaves paradise with a traveller (Von Sydow) to go to hell to try and save Annie from her own damnation. What Dreams May Come is often more like a painting than a film. Every frame, both on earth and in heaven, is composed of vibrant colours, rich tones and superb composition. Chris's heaven consists of a Van Gogh-like painting with layers of bright, colourful paint, blue and red flowers, purplish trees, white gulls floating through the air, and gorgeous waterfalls and lakes. When he walks, he leaves footprints in the painted ground. When Chris goes into the water, he is neck deep in luxuriously thick paint. It is unlike anything you have seen on film before. Equally spectacular is the heavenly city in the sky in Chao's "heaven", with souls in shimmering flowing robes floating into the glowing sunset. The gates of hell consist of continuously burning shipwrecks, where agonized souls struggle to become free. This film is a shoe-in for the art direction Oscar. When the film is following Chris's quest to find his children and Annie, it is quite compelling - you yearn to see what visual spectacle Chris will encounter next. Unfortunately, this journey is broken by numerous, and often overlong flashbacks to his life and relationships with his wife and kids when they were alive. Some of them work, such as Chris's offer to his wife to divorce her in order to help her get over the pain. But most slow down the film, such as Chris's recollection of a very melodramatic speech at his kids' funeral about the man his son should have become, but never would. The acting highlight is Sciorra, and she is able to draw the viewer into the pain of loss, and the emptiness of her life without the man she loves. Von Sydow is equally strong - he brings considerable Bergmanesque stature and credibility as the man who helps Chris navigate the underworld. Gooding Jr. is a bit too bubbly and sugary - he could have toned it down a bit. Williams shines in the rare humourous moments and in his interactions with Sciorra, but is less convincing in the dramatic and intense scenes. While not a great film by any means, it is worth seeing for the incredible visuals the film provides from start to finish.  
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