The Robin Williams Fantasy Epic Everyone Is Forgetting
Robin Williams was a genius actor who made an impression on millions of movie-goers around the world throughout his long career in Hollywood. Now that he is gone, it seems one of his most artful and unique films could be slipping away from us as well. What Dreams May Come is not available to stream anywhere.
What Dreams May Come Underperformed At The Box Office
What Dreams May Come was released in theaters in 1998 and was directed by Vincent Ward. The film was based on a book of the same name written in 1987 by Richard Matheson. Starring Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr., and (of course) Robin Williams, What Dreams May Come was met with mixed reviews upon release and was considered somewhat of a box office flop, grossing around $75 million worldwide on an $85 million budget. Still, the film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects alongside the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design.
Family, Love, And Death
The movie, recently revisited on the GenreVision podcast, was a beautiful representation of life, love, and what comes around after we die. There were plenty of moments within the film that felt a little cheesy and maudlin, but the overall message and sentiment of What Dreams May Come served most people well.
In the movie, Robin Williams plays a doctor named Chris. He is married to an artist/painter named Annie (Annabella Sciorra). The couple have two children, Ian and Maire. In the novel version of What Dreams May Come, the couple’s children are grown and don’t have much of a role in the story.
Chris and Annie’s kids are involved in a car accident, and they die. The pain of losing two children has a huge impact on Chris and Annie, and the saga only gets worse when Chris also meets an early death.
Explores The Aferlife
Everything about What Dreams May Come screams Greek tragedy, and the structure of the afterlife makes a strong reference to the story of Dante’s Inferno. It’s artistic and heartwrenching, and Robin Williams’ performance brought life to some of the scenes that could have easily slipped into the realm of corny.
Robin Williams’s Death Makes What Dreams May Come Much More Heartbreaking
The legendary actor had a way of pouring humanity into some of the simplest occurrences, and he did a superb job of bringing viewers into the heart of the story of What Dreams May Come. In some way, his real life, and real untimely death make his performance in the movie even more moving and impactful.
A Heart Wrenching Tale Of Pain And Loss
nt Ward is a masterful composer who takes just enough of a dip into controversial subjects surrounding death and the afterlife to really craft a beautiful and deep film while still avoiding the pitfalls of approaching such a hot topic.
It’s not a light family movie, but in the right setting and atmosphere, What Dreams May Come is a memorable and visually enticing walk through a timeless search for answers regarding the afterlife.
