A great film by Robin Williams you may have missed is 1998’s What Dreams May Come, and
it is a trip for sure.
Obviously, spoiler alert! While I may give you my opinion on the film here, that’s
no substitute for experiencing it yourself. Links to the movie are in the description
as well.
We open with a calming boat ride, and Robin Williams’ voice narrating the intro.
Why are they both acting like they couldn’t have just gotten knocked into the water? Even
Chris gets up in the boat ready to yell at someone, then the second he sees her he’s
like, ‘No no no. It’s ok. Ram my boat and wake me from my nap anytime!’
You don’t say Chris! This is the perfect start to one of those cheesy romance movies.
The two of them eventually run into each other on dry land, and the two of them believe it
is fate that has brought them together. Naturally, the two of them get married.
These two are made for each other. At least they can laugh about it. I know plenty of
people that that would’ve ruined the whole wedding!
As time rolls on, the two of them live a happy and fulfilled life together. Eventually, kids
arrive and grow up, while time counts down to a fateful moment. Their children are Marie
and Ian, and they seem like a perfectly happy family.
I wish that the first time I watched this, I had known that it was going to start off
so depressing! I’m already invested in characters!
Oh God! This is depressing!
Oh ok. We’re just going to brush right by that. Good to know.
Just so you don’t get false hope, the tone of this movie does NOT change much. There’s
a consistent sense of hopelessness for quite some time. But Chris does his best to get
rid of that for many children. We find out that he is a special kind of pediatrician,
and he does his best to help a girl smile when she comes in for results.
Meanwhile, his wife is having a nervous breakdown at her job, so she calls Chris while he’s
working with the little girl. After solving Annie’s problem, he turns his attention
to the little girl again.
It is comforting to know that their relationship has prospered even with the events of four
years earlier.
Please no.
Damn it! Give me a break! It’s been 13 consistent minutes of pure depression!
It turns out that the accident wasn’t enough to kill him, and he’s transferred to the
local hospital where they treat him for his injuries. At least there’s hope…
Noooo!!! Maybe the movie is just saying that he had complications. He’s going to be just
fine.
Well at least it can’t get worse!
Albert is an old colleague of Chris, and now his soul is here to guide Chris through the
afterlife. While Albert tries to explain to Chris that he really is dead but he doesn’t
want to face it, Chris remembers a time from when his kids were still alive.
This movie just doesn’t let up! Even in death, Chris is dreaming about when he and
Annie had to tell his daughter that they were going to kill her dog.
As Chris attends his own funeral, he sees how Annie is hurting, but he can tell that
Annie can feel his presence there. Later, Chris reads what Annie writes in her diary.
The more she writes about how Chris is all that kept her sane, the more Chris realizes
that Annie is at a crucial moment.
But soon he realizes that his lingering presence is hurting Annie more.
No one ever warned me what a tearjerker this film was. We’re still in the beginning!
Chris runs down a tunnel, towards a bright light, and when he wakes up, he’s in paradise.
His dead dog welcomes him, and the world around him falls into puddles of paint. He’s happy
again.
Poor guy didn’t even sound frantic about dying again. Albert tries to explain the ins
and outs of being a consciousness after death, which Chris finally begins to understand.
While Chris is moving forward with his afterlife, Annie is trying to express her pain through
her art. What she doesn’t know is that what she is painting is becoming part of Chris’
afterlife. As she begins to paint a new canvas into a masterpiece, Chris sees the new addition
and makes his way over to investigate.
If I wasn’t expecting even more depression to follow now, I would think that was the
most magical scene of all time. After they return to Chris’ house, he begins to have
fantasies of Annie being there with him. Next he has pieces of Maria’s childhood appear
on the beach next to him.
Chris is obviously beginning to lose his paradise, as you can see the weather change reflect
his state of being. Chris asks why he hasn’t seen his kids yet, but Albert says that he’s
just not ready to see them. Everything happens when Chris is ready and never earlier.
The next day, Albert has other obligations so a woman named Leona shows Chris that there
is actually a mutual city in the afterlife, and she takes him there. Here we find out
that Albert actually works in the afterlife. He saves lost souls and brings them to their
respected afterlife.
We cut back to Annie who is trying to rationalize everything, but she actually starts blaming
herself for Chris’ death. I want to laugh, but I can’t help but just feel sorry for
every single character in this film. She’s lost everyone, yet she holds on longer than
some others would.
Leona tries to help Chris better understand his grief by making him relive a memory of
his children. In the memory, we see that the city he is in is actually part of a paper
dollhouse from Maria’s room.
It’s a happy moment in the movie! Finally! It won’t last long. Called it.
With this news, Chris starts to lose what emotional stability he might’ve just gained,
but somehow he pulls it together. As Albert tries to explain that suicide victims end
up somewhere else other than the place Chris is, Chris refuses to accept this. He believes
that Annie has suffered enough, and they should be together.
This is one of the most interesting ways I’ve heard this described. A whole lot deeper than
the black and white explanations everyone gives. Even with an explanation like that,
Chris can not accept it.
I do believe that we are about to witness a classic Robin Williams movie now! Not the
depressing epic poem we’ve been watching this whole time.
As Chris embarks on his journey, Albert takes Chris to The Tracker
who tells Chris that he might be able to find Annie, but she won’t recognize anything
he says. He also says that it might be a good time to finally say goodbye. Sound advice,
and honestly, the way the movie has been going, that’s about as happy an ending as I could
expect from this so far.
As the three of them set sail for Annie, they run into some pretty nasty conditions. I honestly
wouldn’t be surprised if they died a second time the way Chris’ luck has been.
They’re not even in Hell yet! Where did these people all come from?! Effective! When
in doubt, just shout.
Just kidding. Their boat is capsized, and Chris finds himself remembering a conversation
Annie and him had about Ian. Ian in turn explains to his father that he’s not actually blowing
it, he’s just not his father. And with that, Chris’ memory goes to his last goodbye wave
on the road to his kids.
Chris and all of the other bodies wash up onto the shore that is directly connected
to the gates of Hell where we find out that it’s a wasteland of machines. Interesting
hellscape. Kind of original considering the time.
The closer they wander to the gate, the more Chris remembers one of his last conversations
with Ian. Of course after that touching moment, we jump to the children’s funeral. Chris
is speaking in front of everyone about his son. As he takes a closer look at Albert,
Chris believes he sees something in him.
We could’ve saved this man so much time and struggle if we had just put his kids there
front and center once he died. This is like an emotional, shapeshifting Where’s Waldo!
After the two of them hug it out, The Tracker tells him that Albert has to stay behind.
Reluctantly, Albert agrees. The two of them embrace one more time, but not before Albert
tells Chris to bring Annie back with him.
Chris and the Tracker continue onward into Hell. As they continue, Chris remembers back
to a time when Annie has been committed to a psych ward after the children’s death.
She begins to question whether Chris and her are too different to stay together, but Chris
reassures her that they’ll get through it together.
The sheer strength of these two is astounding. To go through losing both of their children
and still manage to stay together through it all is amazing.
Well that took a turn. Again, it’s the imagery in this film that really makes you contemplate
what you believe happens. This is a little unsettling.
Chris makes his way through the sea of faces until he sees a familiar face. Once he recognizes
her, he is immediately thrown into a memory of the two of them lying on the grass, looking
at the clouds.
As Chris runs to Annie, he falls through a weak spot in the sea of faces, and he falls
farther into Hell. As he emerges from the water, he finds where Annie is. It’s their
house. The Tracker warns Chris that it’s all an illusion set up by Annie.
It’s now that The Tracker reveals that he’s actually the real Albert. He explains that
he really does wish he could save Annie, but he’s more at risk being there than anywhere
else in Hell. Tell me he doesn’t look like a man that would think that idea didn’t
sound that bad.
As he walks into the remnants of a house that is just a memory, Chris finally comes face
to face with Annie once again. Damn it! How did that actually get me too? Scare her?!
She scared us!
As the two of them interact, you can tell that Annie doesn’t know about anything Chris
is talking about. She tries to ask him to leave, but Chris is persistent. He begins
to explain what was so special about the anniversary they were going to celebrate the night he
died.
In a memory, Chris explains to Annie why that day was called their decision day. It was
the day they decided to make a change. It shows a lot of someone’s character that
he didn’t have to die to have this epiphany. This is a memory of when they were alive!
He already fixed the problem! This story isn’t about a man redeeming his bad decisions in
life. It’s about a man who had already addressed them, but he wasn’t going to let them hold
him back...even in death.
Even though Annie had given up hope, Chris shows her she can still see him in her dreams,
but she’s too caught up in her own guilt and world. As Chris realizes that he can’t
save her, he begins to apologize to her for everything he won’t be able to do. He also
thanks her for everything she ever added to his life.
That’s how you know he’s at peace with what’s happening. At least, as well as he
could be.
When Chris leaves and sees Albert, Albert explains that this trip has always been for
Chris. Never for Annie. In the end, Chris makes a decision that resounds with anyone
that has loved that special someone.
This movie is depressing! I mean, we know it’s not just going to end here, but the
journey to here alone was enough to make someone grab a tub of ice cream and cry throughout
it.
Chris goes back in with Annie, and he explains to her that they won’t remember each other
in a minute but he’s going to be with her forever. This is the best movie I’ve watched
in a while! The sense of humbleness with the gravity of the story is perfect.
After this, Annie recognizes Chris, but Chris has spent too long in her reality. He loses
himself just as Annie remembers it all. Fun fact, Annabella who plays Annie wasn’t going
to take the role because she thought it was too intense and sad. After she read lines
with Robin, she changed her mind though.
After a quick montage of memories, Chris wakes up in his house in heaven again. He gets up
to look around, and after he realizes where he is, he seems to lose a little bit of hope.
Somehow, this movie is pulling off a happy ending. Considering how it started, I guess
any ending would be happier than the beginning of the film.
As Chris turns around, he sees that Annie really is right there with him. As the two
of them finally reach their happy ending, tears of joy roll down their faces as they
kiss each other. Chris finally asks how he got there, and Annie explains that it’s
all in his mind. If that’s all it takes, why couldn’t you get yourself out on your
own then! It’s apparently not that simple Annie!
Chris surprises Annie by showing her the landscape that she had painted of their dream home,
was indeed a reality for them now. The Tracker even shows up and presents their kids for
Annie to be reunited.
After Chris and Annie spend some time together, the two of them decide to reincarnate again.
Magically, they find each other once again. Soulmates are a wonder.
All in all, this film was an emotional rollercoaster that I should’ve seen coming really. I mean,
Robin Williams in the 90’s was nothing but a poster boy for emotional rollercoaster movies.
I’m looking at you Patch Adams. This is a masterpiece, and it deserves to be recognized
as such.
I hope you enjoyed the video, and by all means, watch the film for yourself. There’s something
there for everyone. If you did like it, leave a like on the video and suggest what I should
watch next. Subscribe if you want to see more videos like this one, and I’ll see you in
the next video.