"I bet you're thinking OH SHIT now!!!"

While looking around for something to watch on TV, I stumbled upon what I would call one of my “guilty pleasure” movies – What Dreams May Come. For those who are unfamiliar with the title (and I’d suspect that’s many…it is a fairly obscure movie), it stars Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, and Cuba Gooding Jr. in a story about life, love, and more importantly about death and the afterlife. The movie won the Academy Award in 1999 for Best Effects, Visual Effects, and in my not-so-humble-opinion ranks up there with Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting as Williams best works. I respect that man enormously for the range of talent he has, from comedy to drama without skipping a beat.

Where the movie is rather old, I won’t mind talking about it and potentially spoiling it. If you care, stop reading. The movie starts with a picture of a seemingly happy and successful family – wife, kids, career…the whole kit and caboodle. However, tragedy strikes first with the two children of the family being killed in a car accident. Years pass, and the husband and wife are struggling to make it work. Then, more tragedy – the husband is killed in a car accident as well. At this point the movie becomes very “real” to me…it becomes about Robin William’s character and his trip into the afterlife or Heaven, if you will.

The writer and director paints a wonderful picture of what Heaven is like. I sometimes wonder what happens when you die. I question what is out there…is this really just it, or does the faith I’ve developed over my years hold true after our last moments on Earth? I hope it’s the later, and this particular movie portrays a very pleasant picture of Heaven. Heaven is what every individual wants it to be. It’s a magical place that a person creates and exists in beyond time. There are common visions where people can share and meet, so loved ones who went before you are not gone, but waiting and ready to see you again. All in all it’s just how, if there is a God, He should have it set up.

Above and beyond that portion of the movie, there is assault after assault on your senses of what love is, what devotion is, what it's like to have a soulmate.  They are such powerful emotions that they leave you drained after watching the movie.  They get you thinking about those parts of your life that mirror what you saw in the movie, and if you are truly appreciating and respecting what you have, and doing the best you can to preserve it.  Everytime I see it, I find myself only focusing on my wife and my kids, and that new focus is always a good thing.  Being only human...I need that help every now and then. 

Anyhoo…if you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker, but very warming at the same time. And if it makes you think on larger things in life like it did me…then all the better.