The 1998 classic movie What Dreams May Come is not a movie, it is an experience. Even though it was a failure at the box office it earned Oscar accolades as is sometimes the case. Not every Oscar winning movie is a success at the box office and that is why money does not determine who wins an Oscar. It also not a surprise that What Dreams May Come won its Oscar for the visual effects and was nominated for another Oscar for art direction. It is a visual masterpiece that not only takes the viewer on a visual journey that you will never forget but it is also a story that is so well written and performed that it is easy to get lost in the plot and it can be the fastest 2 hours you will ever experience in your life.

What Dreams May Come stars Robin Williams as a father named Chris Nielsen who dies in a car crash and finds himself in Heaven. Right away the imagery you are confronted with is incredible as it looks like Robin Williams is walking around in a living cartoon. The colors around him smear when he touches them and he soon finds himself covered in the colors of Heaven. The scenery around him is alive and the imagination of director Vincent Ward is in full effect with What Dreams May Come and you could spend hours just watching Robin Williams walking around Heaven as he sits next to a stream and watches little fairies and angels flying around and the processing system that Heaven uses that includes a stair case and all of the facts of your life are reviewed. The imagery is unreal and not only does Robin Williams see and experience some amazing things as he is now living in a painting he always admired, but the whole movie has a tint to it that just makes it believable that you are seeing Robin Williams in Heaven. It is very difficult to explain but after you have seen it then you start to understand why it won the Oscar for special effects. The work is expert and the movie is a joy to watch.

Chris’ wife Annie is played by the beautiful Annabella Sciorra and as the movie unfolds we find out that their children in the movie died in a car crash and they wound up in Heaven. Robin Williams’ character Chris dies a few years after them and he goes to Heaven as well but instead of meeting his children right away he meets up with his old friend and colleague Albert Lewis played by Oscar winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. While Chris is in Heaven he learns from Albert that Chris’ wife Annie had committed suicide and she did not go to Heaven but rather she wound up in Hell. The rest of the movie is the story of Chris attempting to rescue his wife from Hell and bring her to Heaven and it also deals with Chris trying to find his kids in Heaven as well. We soon learn that Albert is actually a form that Chris’s son took so that Chris would feel more comfortable talking to him about Annie. Chris’s son knew that Chris would have a problem talking to him as his son so he took a form he knew Chris could talk to.

What Dreams May Come is a treat for the eyes and a wonderful story as well. It is something that is well worth seeing and it is also something you will remember for many years to come.