What Dreams May Come Review

The title of Vincent Ward`s new film comes from the "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy in Hamlet - "What dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil?" In other words, Ward`s first Hollywood film is about the afterlife - that "undiscovered country". For years filmmakers have been fascinated with the theme of after-death experiences. The dead man is Chris, Robin Williams, a doctor devoted to his wife, Annie, Annabella Sciorra. They`re a perfect family, with two teenage children and a dog - but two car accidents in quick succession shatter their world; first the children are killed, then Chris. He finds himself in an imagined heaven, a world where, at first, it seems as though he`s stepped into one of his wife`s paintings. He`s accompanied by a guide, Cuba Gooding Jr - and it`s all kind of wonderful - at first...What Dreams May Come was adapted by Ron Bass, screenwriter of Rain Man, from a book by science fiction writer Richard Matheson, and you`d think Vincent Ward, whose visually rich films - Vigil, The Navigator - have shown an interest in mysticism, would be the ideal director for the difficult material. Unfortunately, it just doesn`t work. Robin Williams must shoulder a lot of the blame - he gives a slobbery, sentimental performance that`s really hard to take. The film is visually awesome at times, but after nearly two hours it became far too rich for my palate. But the film`s crucial failing is that it has nothing remotely interesting, or challenging, to say about what the afterlife might really be like. There`s the rub.