By half way through this movie, I wanted my money back. By the end, I was wondering if i could sue the producer, director, theatre, etc.

Ok, let's start over.... The acting. Robin! What happened? I did not buy your acting for a minute. I did not believe the relationship between ANY of the characters. The story had great possibilities, but completely missed the mark. The editing was beyond bad. The jumping from scene/timeline to scene/timeline left me wondering if this was the past, or present.

The director of this movie, I don't even remember his name, nor do I feel bad about that, other than the fact that I may accidentally go to one of his movies again, took one to many film classes in college. The symbology (sp?) in this movie was so over done it was rediculous. The acting was sad, with the exception of perhaps Cuba Godding Jr., but that is only a perhaps.

I ramble... Stay away! If you have a choice between seeing this movie, and say, clipping your toe nails... do the nails!

Great filmmaking, great acting, unusual story. One of the best love fable of all time.(Two thumbs up!!!)

If you don't care about some strange theories or weird things during the movie you would think this is the best film of the year! It's a beautiful fable about love.

First of all, I want to know why this crap get all the good reviews. This movie does not deserveany movie reviews. The story does not make any sense. Sure there some great special effects, and the movie is too boring to watch.

I was really disapointing with this film. It should have been better.

Rating:*1/2 out of *****

For those of you that feel apathy towards the concepts of heaven and hell, I wouldn't bother with this movie. It isn't a religious movie, in fact, God was mentioned briefly only once. However, the concepts of heaven and hell are very tangible. While I typically love Robin Williams, but this was not one of his better performances. The supporting actors (Cuba Gooding Jr. and Annabelle Sciorra ) were good in their roles and helped to keep the movie interesting. Certainly not worth full price, but catch it at a second run or rent it.

Robin Williams is such a sweet guy and he's so good in this movie. It's about a man who dies and how he trys to find his wife in heaven. It's a good movie for adults and kids, everyone will like it.

If you are in love and have deep convictions or a vague idea of what your heaven would be, see this as a couple. The movie is not confusing at all. Robin Williams is a man deeply in love with his wife. Their two children are killed in a car accident while Mom is driving. The beginning of the movie sets the whole scene for those of you who pay attention. After Robin's charactor is killed in the beginning, which happens in the first fifteen minutes, the true reason for the movie begins. This is a tear jerker, not a warm romantic comedy or action film. Take someone who means alot to you and see it.

This film is a moving think-piece on personal visions of reality. The love shared by Christy (Robin Williams) and Annabella Sciorra (Annie) is of the fairy tale variety, yet I was drawn into it and invited to consider it as being real. Cuba Gooding as a guiding angel makes the statement, "What you think is real is real!"...and that is an intriguing thought. The computer-generated images of heaven and hell are portrayals of traditional descriptions of the eternal dwellings put forth in some religious communities...and I found them appealing, both visually and spiritually. The director's method of moving in and out of the present moment to other moments in time gave body to the story and leads viewers to a deeper understanding of the characters and their psychological make-up...including their connections in terms of relationship. This is a film worth seeing...thought provoking with a feel good ending. And isn't that a delightful way to be entertained?

I am quite surprised after reading some of the previously written reviews on this site. Obviously those who gave this movie a poor review did NOT get it!!! I wondered when I left the theatre how many people got it. People who see this movie and did not like it, either did not understand it or they do not want to look deep inside themselves. This movie is so much about love, not just love of another, but love of oneself. It is sad for me to see that there are people who cannot see the HIGH PURPOSE of this movie. It brings one into a state of higher consciousness. It is way beyond anything that has ever been shown on television or any movie for that matter. This movie should be seen with an open mind. It is a movie that absolutely everyone should see at least once. "What dreams may come" brings hope to all the fear surrounding death. I feel that this movie deserves more than an oscar... it deserves a worldwide audience... everybody on the planet.

We need more movies that bring us closer to our true spirits, than all the crap, shoot 'em up stuff. We complain that our world is unfair and cruel. Perhaps if we all took heart in movies like this, our world would change and we would all learn to love one another.

I wasn't prepared for the way this film moved me. It is not in my mind the best movie of the year, having seen Saving Private Ryan. However, this movie was not what I expected it to be. I was moved by Robin Williams' characters sense of loss and I thought that the special effects and scenery in this film were excellent. I was expecting more of a science fiction type flick. I would definatley recommend this movie for a "date" flick.

I was highly disappointed with this movie, despite usually enjoying Robin Williams greatly. I agree with the first reviewer that many scenes bordered on ridiculous and "silly". It has nothing to do with not understanding the "deeper significance" and the movie had potential to be excellent. However the acting and the writing were simplistic and weak; there was no connection with any of the characters and the playing out of love and grief was incomplete and empty. The fantasy scenes bordered on unbearable while the segments of real life events were tolerable and relatively better acted. I would not subject anyone to this movie on video or otherwise...

i'm so tired of these movies where Robin Williams has a dead wife and he just sits around and feels sorry for himself. that's what good will hunting and mrs. doubtfire were about and they both sucked so why would this one be any diffrent. then he trys to find her and is sad for the whole movie. this is so stupid. i hated it

Almost all movies start on paper somewhere - perhaps something a production exec scribbles on paper during lunch or an idea that a writer beats around in his head awhile before scripting a rough draft. From there, if it sounds good, the thing gets pitched to a studio that might be interested; if so, the movie is greenlighted into a production phase. Considering this process for Vincent Ward's latest drama, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, it's possible to think that everything sounded good until the movie was actually laid on plastic and sent to movie theaters nationwide. And in all fairness, it most likely was a good idea. But in this case, it's just one good idea that wasn't suited for film.

It's possible to see the shortcomings of DREAMS at the outset. Director Ward wants to work with a very metaphysical and esoteric concept for two hours, while simultaneously trying to mix solid drama and a sprinkling of Robin William's characteristic wit. It doesn't work, for there's just too much going on in his head for everything to come together onscreen. At times, the movie reaches inspiring levels of thought-provoking scripting, but these arrive at unexepected moments and it's likely that the audience will miss many of them. As a whole, the script is not very well done for such a good idea. It's a very muddled foray into an area of screenwriting that takes a very committed and experienced writer to perform well in. Writer Ronald Bass, basing it on the Richard Matheson novel, certainly has experience (RAIN MAN), but he doesn't have commitment, and the movie suffers because of it.

The cast has the goods but does not deliver. Williams is fun to watch, but he lacks the flair that he had in GOOD WILL HUNTING, and, ultimately, DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Here, he plays the lead of Chris Nielsen. Chris meets the lovely artist Annie (Annabella Sciorra) while on vacation in Europe, and the two fall in love and are married soon after. They have two kids, but not long after the movie's opening credits are the children killed off in a car accident. The couple suffers but survives until Chris is also killed in a car accident. He goes to Heaven, which, for him, is composed of his wife's paintings. It's there that he meets spiritual tour guide Al (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who gets him to know the hereafter. Back on Earth, Annie can't take the grief of losing her entire family and commits suicide; she goes to Hell. When Chris learns of this, he takes Al and an ancient netherworld tracker (Max von Sydow) on a journey to Hell to find Annie.

The rest of the cast is rather drab, including Cuba Gooding Jr. Gooding had showed promise after his Academy Award-winning performance in JERRY MAGUIRE and a delightful turn in AS GOOD AS IT GETS. Here, his job seems forced, and he doesn't fully become the character. The only one to lend any substance is Annabella Sciorra, who provides a solid sense of motivation for Williams' character. This rather mediocre cast doesn't help the script any, and so the movie's truly redeeming facets are the special effects and set design. WHAT DREAMS MAY COME makes very dynamic use of extreme color and lack thereof; the movie has a very powerful vision. It's watchable for the most part, but not extremely so. And unfortunately, it's about a subject that won't fly well with everyone, so you may have trouble convincing yourself that this one's worth the bucket of popcorn. I love giving long reviews now.

GRADE: B-

I absolutely LOVED "What Dreams May Come!" My friends and I saw it, and we almost had to get more napkins because we started to cry! I tell all of my friends and my family that this is a MUST SEE film. I thought it was better than Titanic, because it took some deeply unexpected turns. This is good for everyone, guys and girls.

*Note to GUYS: This is NOT just a "Chic Flick!"

There is humor, and seriousness alike, and the picture is just phenominal!

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE... IT IS A MUST GET WHEN IT COMES ON VIDEO!

Beautiful production values are the highlight of this at times uneven film that waffled from being a romantic drama to an issue of DC Comics' Sandman. It works better as the latter (but by the end I even had some problems with that path). The romance was a bit overdone but since it was the motivation for Robin Williams’ character I suppose that was the reasoning. Still, WDMC was a tale of three experiences: At times I pondered my own mortality and questioned the possibilities of an afterlife (a la Contact). At others the movie seemed forced. The final experience is why I'm strongly recommending the film: It's a breathtaking visual experience: an impressionist painting on the big screen. It’s nice to see that movies like WDMC and Dark City are being made. Nothing blows up but it’s so much more satisfying...

10-point scale rating: 7

I liked this movie. It is another serious role by Robin Williams. It may earn him an Oscar nomination. The special effects were very well done. The surreal "painting heaven" and the images of Hell were very creative. The casting of the other roles also right on the mark. Even if this movie clashes with your religious views this movie is good enough to overlook them and get caught up in the movie. Also this movie is complicated enough that you don't know the ending until it happens.

I read the book some years ago and I wanted to see the movie. How disappointed I was! The attempt to use colors to show how the characters were involved with art looked cartoonish. The movie departed significantly from the book that for me it lost its point and its punch. Much angling for tears also hurt the film. As in the case of other Robin Williams, there is simply too much of everything. The set designs were good, however. But the story flopped.

Do you know that character that Mike Meyers used to play on Saturday Night Live? That one who lived in a bathtub, talked with a British accent, and liked "drawrings". If memory serves right, his name was Simon. This movie was made especially for him. It is so simple, that the only person on the planet who could have been made it would have to be an elementary school art teacher who preaches her poison to people like our good friend Simon. In other words, its an art film for dummies. The plot involves a pediatric doctor named Chris dying in a car crash and going to Heaven. It's not long before he finds out that his wife has committed suicide, has gone to Hell, and is, you guessed it, his soulmate. Chris decides that he has to go to Hell, and save her. As far as plots go, this is pretty bad. We're pretty sure that he will, find her. Since Chris isn't faced with that big of a challenge, the last half of the film, when he goes to Hell, is occupied primarily by flashbacks. I have no idea why they had to put flashbacks in this movie. They give the reason for the exhistance of all the characters in the film, and for all the imagery in the film. Nothing has a poetic liscense in this movie. Its all their for a purpose, and all the pieces fit together. This isn't how the afterlife should be. It should be wonderous, we should be forced to apply our imaginations to it. Touse the right side of our brains. The secret of life should never be revealed. That's why its a secret. Its the visual aspects of this film that will probably draw people in, not tired spirtuality, or overwriting. This is one of the most watchable movies ever made. I didn't look at my watch once, (which I tend to do, even for the great ones). Heaven and earth are drenched with reds, greens, and blues. The film creates a fresh dimension and revels in it. Hell, is dreary all right, but not in a good way. It was almost like the filmakers spent all their money, time, and imagination in creating the other sets; and capped this one off in a month. But the rest, oh, the rest is wonderful to look at.This has been a pretty biting review, but's not that bad of a movie. I'm just very disapointed by it, it could have been great and it ends up merely so-so. The movie isn't manipulative or thought-provoking, but it is very condescending, very simplistic, and never the less very watchable. Somehow though, thats not quite enough.

It's supposed to be a love story. It has every hackney idea and sterotype believe every thought about heaven & hell. The "heaven" part is pretty and the "hell" part is spooky. It was boring.

It appears we have come to the end of Robin Williams, the “thinks that he is so” funny man. After one bad comedy after another (“Jack”, “Flubber”), he exploded onto the screen with a powerful, touching performance in “Good Will Hunting”. Here he is Chris Nielsen in a story of death within a family, in “What Dreams May Come”, a slight but visually spectacular film that is so well shot and presented its easily to look over the flaws.

The film’s first ten minutes go way too fast, however. It basically sets the entire Nielsen family up. Chris (Williams) meets Annie (Annabella Sciorra), fall in love, get married, have kids. Then the kids die. (The opening credits are still flashing while this happens, keep in mind.) When Chris is driving home one night, he gets hit by a car and is killed. He enters heaven, which is made from his imagination (in this case, its his wive’s paintings). Chris has a companion, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. who guides him through the world of his afterlife.

It is here that the film takes a visual leap that no other movie ever has (and in budget). Nothing will prepare you for the audacity of the afterlife presented here. The painting that Chris enters is full of melted colors, hazy blue water. As Chris and his guide pass this, they enter a truer, three dimensional world where anything can happen and Chris can do what he wants. Don’t blink. Certainly don’t blink when Chris jumps right off a mountain.

Then, its discovered, that Annie has committed suicide, and a long journey follows to find her in hell. This is when the visuals take an ever bigger leap, almost impossible to describe, only describable by the human eye.

It’s hard to review a movie like this. It deals in afterlife, hell, and family love in very complex ways. At least my attention didn’t wander. However, there is that ending, which seems to have been chosen by “Hollywood” to make the audience feel happy as they leave the theater. After all, you can’t make films like “In The Company of Men” for popular audiences. This injected finale is the chief reason for the three-star rating. You get a harsh feeling that the hands of the system messed with the film, and its even worse that Vincent Ward, the director, didn’t seem to do much abouit it. Its sad because there was such a good movie before this turn of events.

Score: **1/2 out of ****

Picture: 3 The picture is rather mediocre, despite all the heavy visuals that plug the last half of the film. Some of the earlier scenes are completely out of focus (a problem that plagued “Rush Hour” as well) and lots of natural film grain is noticeable. However, some of the visual effects scenes show outstanding sharpness.

Sound: 3 The SDDS soundtrack is slightly disappointing, with minimal split surrounds and not very much bass. Dialogue is clear at some points, but hard to hear in other points.

Photography: 5+ Every shot is completely let go; filmed in Panavision, the photography is incredible, rivaling the audacious scope of “City of Angels”

Length: 114 minutes. Rated PG-13 for subject matter and language. Polygram.

Emilio Tostado WHAT DREAMS MAY COME PG-13 1998 My Rating: 9-10

When a young man is in Europe, he ends up meeting the lovliest woman of his life. They soon are married, and have two wonderfull children, Ian and Christen. But tragedy strikes when the children are killed in a car crash. 4 years later, the man, Chris Neilsen (Robin Williams)is killed when a car hits him, eventually killing him. His wife (Annebella Scorbia), is left alone without her children and husband. Chris travels through heaven in his wife's paintings by Al (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and travels to hell to see what it's like.

Definatly a MUST SEE for special effects fans, and a MUST SEE for fans of drama films. This one touched my heart. I can never remember how many times I've cried throughout an entire movie. The special effects make Star Wars look wimpy. The lovely clouds and buildings, the glistening water, the lavish sky, the mountains looked magnificent. The cinematography was absolutely spellbinding!!

This is the main reason why I belive Robin Williams is one of the best actors alive. He has the flexability to become a wacky crossdresser (Mrs. Doubtfire), or a calm, reassuring teacher (Good Will Hunting). His acting techniques are beyond amazing.

This movie is definatly one of the years top 10. In my scale this year for best movies seen, it ranks #3 to Mask of Zorro (#1), and The Truman Show (#2). This is one of the year's most amazing films, possibly of all time. I strongly recommend any one 10 and over see.