Here's a look at the test screening for WHAT DREAMS MAY COME from the female
side of things. Now at a surface level this review might seem awfully pat, but believe
me, from the footage I've seen, from the script I read and from the knowledge that Vincent
Ward is brilliant, I believe it 100%. So award this review to the film with the best poster
around, god that's gorgeous, and saddle up when this hits your theater. Just as a note, I've had 6
reviews of this film so far over the course of test screening. Many of them have appeared on the site.
5 positives and 1 "I didn't like it because I didn't feel like going to McDonald's afterwards" negative.
The film is disturbing and dark, and I personally feel it is going to be brilliant. Let's keep our fingers
crossed and our ears to the tracks... could be great! Now for the astounding she monster's review...

WHAT DREAMS MAY COME is among the most amazing movies I've ever seen, for
three reasons:

1. Robin Williams. An emotional tour de force from the man with the rubber
face - of which there's no trace in this movie. It's rare to feel such a
full range of emotion from an actor, without feeling manipulated in the
slightest. Usually such profound emotions as grief, ecstasy and hope are
conveyed with tremendous sentimentality - not so from Robin. His every
gesture and action ring the bell of true deep emotion - which we all know
can be intense, powerful, divine - but rarely sweet or soppy. I hate
soppy!!

2. The cinematography is orgiastic. You can sense a potent artistic
intelligence behind the "special effects." I've never seen anything like
it - it's Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin come to life, seamlessly. You have to
see this to believe it. In addition to the "painting in motion" effect,
there are other amazing effects, effects that are never superfluous or
wank-y - they are always tied to the making of the point in the story. Very
cool. (Hate those "let's throw everything at them til they can't breathe
and notice how crappy the story is" special effects. None of that here.)
All effects serve the story. There's one scene where RW and others are
walking over the faces of those in hell, in search of Annabella Sciorra.
The bodies are submerged in dirty mush, half eaten, suffering, screaming.
Quite a departure from the fire-and-brimstone version of hell, but this was
a scarier representation than any I'd ever seen (or dreamed!!)

Even if you hate the story and the actors, you will still love the movie by
just ignoring them and just letting your eyes groove.

3. The story. Basically, this is the story of what happens to the bond
between you and those you love, AFTER DEATH. (The following gives the
story away, so skip this if you want.) Williams and Sciorra play a couple
who have lost their children in a car accident. Some years later, Williams
dies in another car accident, leaving Sciorra behind in a world of guilt and
pain. While living, they share a REAL love, full of joy, tragedy, housework:
regular life. Underneath it all, they have that special bond that informs
AND transcends all. After death, he longs to be with her, he can't stand
the vision of her suffering. His attempts to reach her from the other side
only cause her more pain. Eventually she kills herself, consigning herself
to hell while Williams and their children are in some kind of beautiful
heaven. He vows to find her, heal her, offer her what is needed to escape
the bonds of hell. Along the way he receives help both physical and
spiritual from Cuba Gooding Jr , Max Von Sydow (fabulous, bringing just the
perfect shadow of Bergmann) and an Asian actress whose name I had never
heard before.

Anyway, almost all of that is beside the point I really want to make. The
point I really want to make about the story is that this is the first movie
I have seen about death that is truly spiritual. (IE not just romantic or
supernatural.) Yes, it falls into some vats of newage (rhymes with sewage),
but I forgave all that when I felt that the INTENTION of the movie was to
show the spiritual bonds of the heart, through life and through death,
which, after all, are not different from each other in the eyes of the
world's spiritual traditions. I was truly moved by this movie.

I think it will be really, really hard to market this movie while
safeguarding its integrity (ie don't turn it into The Celestine Prophecy!!),
but I wish everyone who is connected with this all the best. The version I
saw didn't have the final music score - which I think can have significant
impact on the impact of the movie. If they go some kind of Yanni or Enya
route, too bad. If they go a simpler, more Ry Cooder-ish route, that would
be much cooler, to me.

OK, there's my $0.02 worth!!