Word: heavenly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Despite these omissions, Ward's version of heaven is stunning on purely visual terms. Eduardo Serra, the cinematographer who gave The Wings of the Dove a lush color scheme resembling fresh paint, goes further by setting the early scenes of heaven actually in a painting. The imagery is banal--must the perfect place be out of a paint-by-numbers watercolor?--but richly presented. The art direction suggests that PolyGram spent an inordinate amount of money on the film...
When Robin Williams enters hell, the movie's visual style lags. Like Ward's heaven, hell is a collection of schoolbook cliches, but without the visual flourish that marked the earlier passages. The hell that Woody Allen presented satirically in Deconstructing Harry is far more frightening than the absurdity in What Dreams May Come. Perhaps no director could reconcile presentations of heaven and hell successfully--David Lynch could certainly do the latter--and in this situation, Ward fails at both tasks...
Robin Williams becomes morose and earnest, a man who cannot appreciate even heaven. Williams is known for his rapid delivery and wit here seems slow and dull. He barely moves his mouth throughout the film and refuses to raise his eyes. This dour performance becomes all the more evident when Williams appears with Cuba Gooding, Jr., who breathes some life into the story. Gooding, whose energy recalls Williams' early comedic work, is a constant reminder of what Williams lacks in What Dreams May Come. The role is a serious one, but Williams is too earnest even considering the solemn subject...
Without a compelling reason to go on this journey, What Dreams May Come can only provide random scenes that vary in effectiveness. A scene with a mysterious woman in heaven who chose the body of a beautiful Asian because of a fleeting memory from her childhood suggests fascinating possibilities left unexplored. But, most of the effective sections are marred by an egocentric focus on Williams' Chris Nielsen, as if heaven exists only for his sake. The film suggests that heaven for Nielsen is a place where all human lives have been shaped entirely...
...mantras which drive every new flick churning out of Hollywood's blockbuster factory. Godzilla and Armaggedon are the obvious examples--but the trend is beginning to infiltrate the once safe genres. What Dreams May Come, for instance, opens in theaters today with a love story that crosses both heaven and hell in order to make audiences feel. Do we really need perpetual "eye candy" to tell a story? Or more importantly, can a pure human drama still affect...