DOCTOR CHRIS NIELSEN MEETS HIS TRUE SOUL MATE ANNIE, MARRIESHER AND HAS TWO CHILDREN. THE CHILDREN DIE IN A CAR ACCIDENT, AND CHRIS DIES FOUR YEARS AFTER THAT. ENDING UP IN HEAVEN, HE IS GUIDED BY FRIENDLY ANGEL ALBERT THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE, AND HE IS REUNITED WITH HIS DOG AND CHILDREN.
Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they’re just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He’s met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife–a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie’s own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.
The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery–he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story’s impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there’s no denying Eugenio Zanetti’s triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic. –Shannon Gee
Buy “What Dreams May Come” For Only $4.68
May 19, 2008
#1
I had a hard time following the sub-plot of constant flashbacks. However, if you watch this for theological insights, you will be misled.
Theological Mistakes:
#1. Hell is not about judgement. If you believe that, how can you claim to be Christian? Romans 5:12 “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.” 1 John 3:8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” But the good news is that Jesus died on the cross. 1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin.” Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
#2. Where is God in this movie? Christopher, the main character played by Robin Williams, says that he NEEDS his wife so he can be happy. So, he doesn’t God to be happy? Heaven, in a matter of speaking, is the presence of God. Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character thought that God’s presence even in heaven is removed from the people in heaven. God says in Psalm 16:11 “You fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
#3 & 4 No one from heaven can rescue anyone in hell, plus no one going back to earth would do any better at convincing an unbeliever if that unbeliever does not accept Jesus without stuff like that. Luke 16:22-31 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “
May 19, 2008
#2
I’d give this film 5 stars on most levels,
the only thing that made me rate it a “4″
would be the reviews that say it is based
on a novel, and that it did not portray
the novel accurately.
Honestly, I didn’t read the novel, so
I was not able to tell the difference.
If this was based on the novel- meaning-
it was loosely conceived from the novel,
then I believe it deserves the full 5,
since there is nothing insulting to the
viewer if the movie does not boast itself
as the novel on film.
But if it was adapted from the novel and
missed key elements then I would have to
say 4 stars.
May 19, 2008
#3
This movie is among the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It lacks a coherent plot. The story wanders all over the place without ever getting anywhere. The movie relies on maudlin scenes between the characters. Unfortunately, the characters are so weak that you don’t really care what happens to them. Save your money. This movie isn’t worth your time.
May 20, 2008
#4
If I could give 0 star to this film, I would. I absolutely adore Robin Williams, but this film was sheer torture to sit through. The plot is convoluted and the characters unlikeable, or at best, incomprehensible. Annabella Sciorra’s character becomes so inexplicably depressed that you’re left at a loss as to why Robin Williams’ character would even stand by her. The visual effects are stunning, but just can’t make up for the miserable plot. The best thing about the film, seriously, is the title, which was what made me want to watch it in the first place and left me wondering halfway, when is this going to end???
May 20, 2008
#5
If you want to know about Heaven and Hell, it’s all in the Bible. God has already given us a glimpse of both and this movie isn’t even close.
The main issue I have with this movie is that the message, theme and core story of the film are not original and created ideas of the author and script writers. The author didn’t just sit down and think up the idea of God, the afterlife, Heaven and Hell and the ways to these places. God has provided us with all of this information in the Bible and most people know this. God tells us of these places and how anyone will enter into either domain. Apparently, the author disagrees with what God has told us and has taken the and descriptions of those places and twisted them into his own vision. Which makes this whole idea a blatant lie, contradiction and attack on God’s word. The author and movie makers knew this and did it anyway. This is why I diagree with the whole concept of the story and film. This also makes reviewing the actors performances, cinematography, graphics, and music score moot.
In this movie, you can make your own Heaven, and God has no name as not to offend anyone (political correctness strikes again). He’s portrayed as “somewhere up there”, even in His own Kingdom. The name Jesus isn’t even spoken, even though He sits at the right hand of the Father and is Lord, king and judge of all. I thank God that this idea of Heaven isn’t even close to the real one. People just hang around or fly around and create their own customized heaven, nonsense. People are also exactly the same in this heaven as they are on earth. Theres pain, anger and swearing in this idea of heaven. You can even take God’s name in vain there!!! I don’t think so. God’s Heaven is peace and joy for those who have called upon the name of Jesus Christ as Lord before death. In the movie, everyone is totally consumed with their own feelings for each other and there’s no love for God which should be the greatest and strongest love of all. There’s also the option of reincarnation, which is also not Biblical at all. Why would you ever want to come back here anyway after you were already in Heaven? The real Heaven that is, not this boring and self indugent one of the movie. The Bible also makes it clear that no one can cross over from Heaven to Hell or Hell to Heaven. This movie disreagards that too and makes that possible. God gave man dominion over the earth, but Heaven is His.
Which brings us to the other side, Hell. This movie also directly contradicts the Bible by saying, “the real Hell is your life gone wrong”. No, the real Hell was made for the devil and his demons. Hell is also a place for those who’ve rejected Jesus Christ as Lord. God’s word clearly states that there is only one unforgivable sin, and that is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which means to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and make God out to be a liar by denying the truth. The movie also says, “Hell isn’t all fire and torment”. That’s also wrong, God has already told us that it is. All of our senses are intact and there is searing heat, pain and knowledge of where you are and that you put yourself there by rejecting God’s way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. The movie also allows for those in Hell to go to Heaven. Wrong. Judgement is final and eternal. God is in control. But the movie yet again wants man to be in control. The Hell in this movie is a total joy and paradise compared to the real Hell. In the real Hell, there is no moment of peace, even to sit and be depressed. No one returns and all is ultimate suffering and torment. But the worst of it all is being separated from God forever and knowing that you could have accepted the free offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This movie portrays secular society’s false sense of hope that we’re all basically good, without need of salvation and that as long as we don’t kill anyone, we’re all going to Heaven. It’s just not true. We’re all sinners, just the same and all in need of salvation. God doesn’t send us to Hell, without Jesus, we’re already on our way there. We’re already condemned and sitting on death row. Jesus bore the sins of the world on His own shoulders so that we may forgiven and be freed from condemnation. We can be saved if we’ll just accept what He did. Repent, call upon his name and ask Him into your life as Lord and Savior. You can know God now and His great and abounding love for you. Now is the time of salvation, life can end for anyone of us at anytime. Call upon the name of the Lord while He may be found.
Jesus said, “Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you with me that you also may be where I am. I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. (John 14:1-6)
Because God so loved the world, He sacrificed His only Son Jesus Christ, and all those who repent and call on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn it but that the world through him may be saved. (John 3:16-17)