Review of What Dreams May Come (1998) by Kelly B — 15 Dec 2009
This movie really is unlike anything else. The special effects, even though they are over a decade old now, are as beautiful as any I have ever seen. They are used to create wonderful, impressionistic visions of heaven as an oil painting.
It is so, so pretty. Later, when the movie goes (literally) to hell, it turns into a scary Hieronymous Bosch painting. The story starts off very strong, and does get a bit meh by the very end, but oh well.
Robin Williams is very good in his role, entirely avoiding his usual comic persona. Annabella Sciorra is also excellent, but her character is a bit harder to get a hold of. Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Max von Sydow also give fine performances.
It's a real shame this Vincent Ward fellow hasn't directed more and more popular movies. On the strength of this film, I would say he was one of the most interesting moviemakers around, except he hasn't done much since.
The visual effects team won an Oscar, and deservedly so. If you ever need an argument for the power of special effects and cinematography and art design to make a movie amazing, just point to this movie.
This review of What Dreams May Come (1998) was written by Kelly B on 15 Dec 2009.
What Dreams May Come has generally received positive reviews.
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