years ago , robin williams made _jumanji_ , a brilliant achievement in special effects , but a travesty on nearly every other level . the same can be said for _what dreams may come_ , <NEG> a boring , illogical , weepie-wannabe that left my senses numb </NEG> . don't get me wrong : i love breathtaking special effects and pulse-pounding imagery . _brazil_ is on my personal top ten . _the city of lost children_ is a great film because of its outlandish scenarios . i even love _2001_ and _last year at marienbad_ , being in the minority amidst my friends . _what dreams may come_ , imagery aside , has little daring thought to complement its imagery . the daring thought it _does_ have is never fully realized . <NEG> it's idea of a plot is so lukewarm , that it insults the bigger questions it raises </NEG> . it would have been better if the filmmakers rid the film of the live action sequences , put on an electronica soundtrack , and sell it as one of those popular _mind's eye_ videos . robin williams plays chris nielsen , who dies too prematurely--not only in the story , but before we have a chance to really know and care for him . the director , vincent ward , and the screenwriter ronald bass , have chosen to tell his life story in flashbacks while having the foreground story focus on his experience with the afterlife <NEG> . big mistake . </NEG> it would have been far better to take the half-hour or so needed to tell his life story first ( ala _it's a wonderful life_ ) , so that i can build up respect for him , so i could know and possibly care for him , his children , and his long-suffering wife ( played superbly by annabella sciorra ) . instead , the filmmakers insult my intelligence by rushing into the story , expecting that the film to grow in depth as it progresses . it doesn't . so in the afterlife , chris learns that ( a ) people still don't meet god , ( b ) that our thoughts are reality , and ( c ) time does not exist there . hmm . . . i+ll grant one of those silly giant ideas for the sake of the narrative . ( the " not meeting god " part still irks at me , but perhaps there was no possible way to film it and give it due respect ) . that said , this alternate reality <NEG> still makes no possible sense </NEG> . read on . . . chris' wife commits suicide . since suicides go to hell , chris would be separated from his wife forever . the important question is , is heaven really heaven if you are separated from the one you love ? good question . and i like good thought-provoking questions . <NEG> i don+t like it when the filmmakers deviate from the question . i _loathe_ it when the filmmakers deviate from the question so that the film becomes a popular rescue film , especially a rescue film which does not take its underlying premise seriously </NEG> . i _really_ loathe it when it+s story is <NEG> no longer run by logic </NEG> , but by special effects . hey chris : did you forget ? your thoughts are _real_ . they are more _real_ than the physical world , according to the new-age screenplay . so , why don+t you conjure up positive thoughts of annie , and let that run wild ? and then she would appear before you , and you two would live in happy bliss for eternity ? because there would be no movie , that+s why . and albert the angel ( played by <NEG> miscast </NEG> cuba gooding , jr . ) says bluntly : " that+s fantasy . " umm . . . if your thoughts are more real than the physical , then fantasy is not fantasy , but real . surely some eastern meditation specialist would be able to tell you that . and if you happen to think that you are an unimaginative person , and that your thoughts aren't big enough to sustain you for eternity , well , in all due respect , that's why i don't subscribe to this theology . all due respect . another idea , based on " time , ( pause ) , does not exist here ! " so chris , spend your eternity with annie , as she is on earth , reliving your favorite memories , or hang out with her when she was growing up . you+ve got eternity : perhaps you can hang around long enough and learn not to freak her out . and forcing her to write " i still exist " in her diary , imo , is <NEG> just too tacky </NEG> . there are many other ideas , all of which are a hundred times better than what+s unraveled in the plot . the great aforementioned question is <NEG> sidetracked into gimmicky subplots </NEG> that have been done before , and <NEG> just come out stale </NEG> . <NEG> most insulting </NEG> is the subplot where important people in chris+ life appear in heaven differently than he expects , so when they finally show themselves , he realizes they were with him all along . and when this happens , the film runs in slow motion , as if to build emotion . <NEG> _gag me with a spoon_ </NEG> . so the only things for me to like are sciorra+s effective performance , who rises far above this mundane material , and the special effects . please note that while i enjoyed some of the visuals , i did not enjoy _all_ of them : some of the images looked like sandy duncan universe , everybody floating up and down in invisible strings . it sounds like a joke , but it+s really true : i really tried to block out the dialogue , and figure out what music would best work as an alternative soundtrack . my vote goes to a rare cd called " never say die " ( 1981 ) from petra , a christian rock group . it+s pretty good , and they have a song about annie , who commits suicide . ( it+s too late for annie/she+s gone away for good/there+s so much we'd have told her/and now we wish we could/but it+s too late . . . ) . melancholic , yes . depressing , yes . but far more entertaining . . . so , in case you don+t know , let me be straight . suicide--bad . _don+t do it_ . no . no . no . ( got it ? --you shouldn+t have to pay $7 . 50 to hear this in <NEG> an awful robin williams schmaltzfest </NEG> . )
