dindrane

There is a leech-eating scene.... need I say more? At one point, during the requisite prison cafeteria food-fight scene, several of the actresses literally crack up and start giggling during their lines.

One of the actresses, a doctor, was actually not half bad (in comparison), and I felt very sad for her; the rest of the actresses didn't seem to take the script seriously at all, and who can blame them? They were probably coeds promised free beer if they showed up and read from cue cards.

This movie is so very bad that it's actually hysterically funny.

A movie often maligned by jaded American audiences, What Dreams May Come deserves a second look. It doesn't forget that cinema is a *visual* medium, yet it also keeps up with the fact that they're supposed to be telling a story. The lack of character development has been decried by some, but the fact that all of the characters are *dead* should be understood, as should the fact that all of the main characters do, in fact, change and grow, becoming, paradoxically, more alive than they were in life. The movie succeeds in being touching and tragic without becoming overly maudlin. It is a prime example of how very individual life (and the afterlife) really is. Your individual idea of heaven or hell is not *supposed* to be identical to anyone else's, and the movie does not forget that. We, as audiences, shouldn't either.

A wonderful film that could do much to rejuvenate the tired Hollywood hit machine. Give it an honest chance with open eyes.

An interesting modern take on Beowulf. It was distressing to me, however, how many people did not recognize the literary classic in either this movie or Crichton's novel. Don't forget to read the original Beowulf, compare that to the changes Crichton made in his novel, and *then* go see this film. It will enrich your appreciation of the movie, and it just might help you figure out what's going on behind the scenes and to understand the characters a bit better.

Certain scenes toward the end of the film make the whole worthwhile, and Bandaras does a great job without having to be the toughest man on the screen all the time.