It's a rare thing to feel embarrassed leaving a cinema - but that was my reaction after sitting right through one of the most nauseating, boring, unfulfilling films I've ever seen.
The writing was on the wall with the saccharine opening of bumping boats on a Swiss lake (why Switzerland? beats me!) and a "mountain meeting" scene that could have been conjured from an erotic fantasy version of Wuthering Heights. Then there was a mercifully high-speed review of a "perfect" family forming, only to be interrupted by the central tragedies of the children's deaths soon followed by that of the husband (Robin Williams). All of which, in the absence of any substantial character development, would have left us cold - if it weren't for the sentimental speeches and over-blown musical score which heralded and underlined every essential moment of the film.
In heaven the rot really set in, with overblown special effects and surging symphonic passages trying hard to overcome the "zero" story-line. After much traipsing through the flowers of paradise's imaginary pallet we reached the nub of the story with the earthly suicide of the wife.
At last, a good 45 minutes into the film, the plot emerged: an old fashioned "search and rescue" mission set in cyber-heaven. But what a miserable mission: a search emasculated of any dramatic tension by the fact that the protagonist is already dead (but living well in paradise) - so what has he to lose? what threat has to be survived? It's a case of "have Robin Williams, will travel" on a tour through a bizarre series of sets and special effects, including Hell dressed up as a burning boat (was this something picked up from Titanic's cutting room floor?) And a rescue so bland and predictable that it wilted on the flacid vine; and the resultant reunification of family was as cloying and sick-making as the cheapest brand of ersatz champagne.
OK so there were a few stunning images that brought to mind Terry Gilliam's work (although without the wit or bite), but these didn't compensate for the crass dialogue and laboured direction. In any event, they were undermined by some sinister undertones in the film. Such as the large proportion of black people inside the burning gates of Hell contrasting with the white faces in Heaven; and the idea that suicide is in all cases irredeemable, but for the rest of us there is a better life to be had after we are dead.
So sorry to all of you who thought this was such a great film - for me it was drivel of the worst kind: a simple story dumbed down and painted up - a thin (very thin) veneer of "eye candy" and nothing more.
The writing was on the wall with the saccharine opening of bumping boats on a Swiss lake (why Switzerland? beats me!) and a "mountain meeting" scene that could have been conjured from an erotic fantasy version of Wuthering Heights. Then there was a mercifully high-speed review of a "perfect" family forming, only to be interrupted by the central tragedies of the children's deaths soon followed by that of the husband (Robin Williams). All of which, in the absence of any substantial character development, would have left us cold - if it weren't for the sentimental speeches and over-blown musical score which heralded and underlined every essential moment of the film.
In heaven the rot really set in, with overblown special effects and surging symphonic passages trying hard to overcome the "zero" story-line. After much traipsing through the flowers of paradise's imaginary pallet we reached the nub of the story with the earthly suicide of the wife.
At last, a good 45 minutes into the film, the plot emerged: an old fashioned "search and rescue" mission set in cyber-heaven. But what a miserable mission: a search emasculated of any dramatic tension by the fact that the protagonist is already dead (but living well in paradise) - so what has he to lose? what threat has to be survived? It's a case of "have Robin Williams, will travel" on a tour through a bizarre series of sets and special effects, including Hell dressed up as a burning boat (was this something picked up from Titanic's cutting room floor?) And a rescue so bland and predictable that it wilted on the flacid vine; and the resultant reunification of family was as cloying and sick-making as the cheapest brand of ersatz champagne.
OK so there were a few stunning images that brought to mind Terry Gilliam's work (although without the wit or bite), but these didn't compensate for the crass dialogue and laboured direction. In any event, they were undermined by some sinister undertones in the film. Such as the large proportion of black people inside the burning gates of Hell contrasting with the white faces in Heaven; and the idea that suicide is in all cases irredeemable, but for the rest of us there is a better life to be had after we are dead.
So sorry to all of you who thought this was such a great film - for me it was drivel of the worst kind: a simple story dumbed down and painted up - a thin (very thin) veneer of "eye candy" and nothing more.