What Dreams May Come Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After a man has died and gone to heaven, he must journey through hell to rescue his wife.

Review: Typically I wouldn't do any kind of tribute or anything, but I did like Robin Williams quite a bit especially in more serious roles. I suppose others preferred him in comedy, but I think he had a range more fitting of drama, with the exception of "Aladdin," but I like that for different reasons. So why not cover at least one film that highlighted his career? And what film could be more apropos than "What Dreams May Come?" The film touches on the themes of love, loss, and redemption, and offers a bit of solace toward Mr. Williams' death. Based on a book of the same name, that appears to be much different, this film didn't do that well when it was released but was critically praised. I think people missed out big time on this little gem. This is one of the most beautiful looking films out there with a scope and scale to rival any big budget blockbuster; the grand imagery is reminiscent of Dante's "Divine Comedy" which was clearly an inspiration. While it certainly has some flaws, both technical and story-related, it's still a very touching film.

Early on you will notice the sheer brilliance to the set designs and exceptional CGI for that era. They were going for this living-painting concept and it succeeded admirably. I mean, if you're going to try and portray heaven and hell things better look pretty damn epic, and the film accomplishes this. This was an important aspect to capture since the majority of the film takes place in someone's heaven. I'm not going to say this film doesn't have direct Christian themes, but it tries to look at the afterlife in a broader sense with some philosophical debate along the way. For example, they discuss where is "God" in all of this and one of the characters explains he's out there somewhere...with the caveat that "he thinks" this. Most of the time things are kept vague and ambiguous as not to alienate any group of people. In other words, heaven will look however you believe it to be and on occasion things will be altered in order to help you clear up loose ends from your life. This was one of the better plot elements as the people closest to Mr. Williams' character, Chris, appear in different forms. They explain that this was important to remove the boundaries of certain relationships and titles; like a father and son will act different toward one another if those titles define the relationship.

As for hell, they stress that there are no judgements per se, but evil people will torment themselves internally due to their flaws in life. Also, due to their wickedness, they will find themselves incapable of escaping this torment. The film tries to offer the notion of redemption at some point through reincarnation, but it's a bit fuzzy on that plot line; the book I believe goes over it in more detail. The main conflict of the film revolves around Chris trying to go through hell in order to find his wife who committed suicide after years of depression due to her children's death and, at some point, the death of Chris. Bringing someone out of their torment is supposed to be impossible, but Chris and his wife are allegedly soulmates destined to be together. I'm not going to lie, this is a bit overly sentimental and corny for me, but I can go with it. As Chris journeys through hell, we get that Dante's "Inferno" imagery I discussed, but the effects aren't quite as good as they were for heaven. There are oceans of bodies, endless deserts, and a field of people buried up to their necks which are cool looking. I probably should mention that there clearly appears to be more people in hell than heaven, so I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. Another thing to point out is that the film loves water as a motif or something; even hell has a ton of water. Well, as you may have easily guessed, Chris rescues his wife from hell by sacrificing his heaven to bare her torment alongside her. This noble sacrifice snaps the wife out of her torment and they all go back to heaven. Sadly, this is probably where the book and movie both drop the ball in one way or another. In the film, they will simply remain in heaven forever but decide they want to pointlessly be reincarnated so they can fall in love again. What?! If I literally went to hell to rescue someone, you bet your sweet ass that's a one time offer. Fuck that, I'm lounging out in heaven forever after that. The film ends with the couple as little kids meeting each other with a rage-inducing glance at the camera from one of the kids. In the book/alternate film ending, the wife must be reincarnated in order to atone for her suicide. Chris simply says he will reincarnate with her to help her go through the second life...which they stress will be more difficult in order to make up for this life. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure this sounds great on paper, but if you watch the scene it is horrible and ruins the tone. On top of that, this notion introduces nearly endless philosophical dilemmas. Okay, so they already know what kind of life the wife will live up until death...that means the suicide would have also been preordained from this life! My god people, this is a paradox that has been discussed for thousands of years! How can someone be punished for crimes that they are "destined" to commit? Plus, this is a shoddy way to explain life's misery. You got cancer? Tough shit, you shouldn't have been a douchebag in your last life. I can't accept that fact as reality, and, even if it were real, I suppose I have the moral high ground over any supernatural entity. I could go into great lengths regarding this subject, but I'll skip it since the film didn't go with that ending anyway.

This was an excellent movie that showcased Mr. Williams' acting skills a lot better than the comedies and family films he's more widely known for. He still has that charm and joking manner to him, but you feel his emotions in this role. In fact, most of the actors involved do a great job and the dynamics to the relationships are presented well. I obviously love the look of the film and the many marvels it portrays. However, I will mention that they do a weird slow motion effect throughout the film that did look shitty. The theological and philosophical ideas presented act as a wonderful conversation piece and are worth exploring naturally. The film can be overly sentimental, even sappy, but I found it more endearing without being preachy. Overall, this is a fantastic film that, unfortunately, few have had the chance to experience.

Notable Moment: It's tough to sort through all the epic designs, but I think the best concept would be the ocean of the dead.

Final Rating: 7.5/10