There's no sex, no on-screen violence, very little cursing, and a plot that makes you think. Characters are held responsible for their actions. Computer technology is used to make a lovely landscape rather than gory death-and-violence scenes. Love conquers all: true love, not "Boomboomboom let's go to my room."
What? How can someone make a film without those things in it? Does that mean ... we actually have to think at a movie? What does Hollywood think we are, rocket scientists?!? (Please please please note the heavy sarcasm.)
This is one of the few films I've seen that doesn't do things for shock value. My last review was for Halloween: H20, the polar opposite of this film. Gore, sex, nastiness abounding. It was so refreshing to see the sort of film that I wouldn't be embarrassed for my grandparents to see.
The film is based on the 1979 novel by Richard Matheson, the amazing fantasist who wrote Somewhere in Time. Again, Dreams shows us a love that will not be held captive by time and space, but will cross all boundaries ... even Hell. In the film, we follow the life, death, and afterlife of Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams), as he falls in love at first sight with Annie (Annabella Sciorra), gets married, has children, and suddenly has his world torn apart when his children die in a car crash. Four short and sad years later, he himself dies in a similar crash.
But the film does not end there. After a torturous period of time in which he must come to terms with his death and Annie's grief, Chris awakes in a Heaven painted by his imagination ... with real paint! He is guided by Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.), an old friend and associate, as he tries to make sense of his new surroundings and be content with the idea that he must wait for Annie as she lives her life. However, this dream is also torn apart when Albert tells Chris that he and Annie can never be together. Chris, unwilling to accept this, embarks on a journey through Hell to find Annie.
Even if there wasn't such an interesting and thought-provoking plot attached to the film, just the visuals could amaze you. But it's the plot, which some have called schmaltzy and confusing, that really makes the movie. This is literally a movie of firsts: it is the first film to use LISAR (a military and aeronautics tool) in its effects. It is the first film to offer a serious and research-based vision of what Heaven is really like. And it's the first film in years that doesn't treat the audience like a herd of dumb cattle. Don't like to think? Don't see this movie. But if you're tired of the junk Hollywood has been spewing out for the past twenty years, you will love this movie.
