If there's one thing that What Dreams May Come has is a vivid imagination. Maybe some readings into Dante's Inferno might have given the writers some ideas as a start. But this goes way beyond.

I remember years ago at a Science Fiction convention Peter Davison said that one nice thing about being the Doctor in Doctor Who was that you could create your character from scratch. Since we've got no reports on the afterlife one can the imagination soar in creating it. Soar it does and at times the creation threatens to overwhelm the cast, but it never does.

Robin Williams doctor and Annabella Sciorra artist seen fated to be mated and are. They raise two children, but both are killed in a car crash devastating the parents both try to move on. Then Williams is killed in a car crash.

At that point the film shifts to the afterlife as Williams starts to get used to the territory. Cuba Gooding appears as a kind of mentor/guide for him. The place looks like paradise, but paradise will not be complete without the family reunited.

The afterlife does have its rules and Williams has to make quite the journey to accomplish his goal. Williams, Sciorra, and Gooding give impeccable performances and the sets are just breathtaking.

If it isn't this is what heaven should be.

Chris Neilson (Robin Williams) is utterly in love with his wife Annie Collins-Nielsen (Annabella Sciorra). They have two boys but they die in a car accident. Later, Chris as a doctor tries to help in a car pile-up and is killed. He is met by Albert Lewis (Cuba Gooding Jr.) in the afterlife. Heaven is made up in his mind with his memories and his wife's paintings. She's connected to him as his soul mate. A despondent Annie commits suicide and goes to a hell of her life gone wrong. Chris goes on a quest to save his wife.

There is an interesting afterlife being painted in this movie. It's floaty and in the deepest of colors. It's awe-inspiring at times. It can be a slow journey. It takes an hour before he goes on the quest. He needs to start earlier. His quest into hell is a bit confused. The reveals are not clear enough. It needs to transform the psychological adventure into a more action oriented quest. It is visually interesting but the story isn't.

When motion pictures visit the unknown world of beyond (particularly heaven or hell),there is bound to be controversy. Think of "Green Pastures", the classic Broadway play which shows black angels in heaven revisiting the story of the bible, or the tacky "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" sequence from "Wonder Bar" where a black-faced Al Jolson goes to the teeny-tiny black heaven, totally overwhelmed by the huge white heaven. There are no black-faced dancers tap-dancing out of watermelons in this touching fantasy which shows that love transcends tragedy and that faith and determination know no bounds when it comes to eternal life.

Robin Williams is a husband and father tragically killed in a car accident, and despondent wife Annabella Sciorra commits suicide over her grief. It turns out that their children have died too, and in heaven, Williams is reunited with one of them who indicates that Sciorra has gone to hell. He refuses to live in heaven while she is suffering in hell, so he ventures to the darkest place of the soul in order to rescue her. Assistance from a wise angel (Cuba Gooding Jr.) aids him in getting to the world of Hades, and the horrors he finds are great.

Both the beauty and darkness of the soul are explored in this powerful drama which brought out mixed reactions upon its first release. Cynical critics dismissed the film, but the more sensitive and spiritual welcomed it with open arms. The shots of the painting which is heaven are breathtaking to look at, and Williams' joy there is overwhelming. But he's a man on a mission, and once his determination to save his wife becomes his goal, no heaven is big enough to hold him. Hell is a world of unspeakable horrors, and must be seen to be believed. Whether or not you believe in the existence of either place, you can't help but be mesmerized over what happens here. The ending may seem somewhat forced, but truly indicates what the power of forgiveness and redemption means and that is the message that stands out in this most remarkable piece of art.