Features: DVD
Editor's Note
Oscar winner Robin Williams stars in two emotional dramas that feature a touch of the actor's trademark sense of humor. PATCH ADAMS: Tom Shadyac's (ACE VENTURA) film tells the true story of Hunter "Patch" Adams (Robin Williams), an aspiring doctor in the 1970's who attempted to treat his patients with a medicine that modern science had totally disregarded: humor. After a stint in a mental hospital where he discovers his need to help others, a young Patch enters medical school. There he develops his own methods of reaching patients as an antidote to the the pomposity he witnesses in his instructors and fellow students. While his patients and fellow staff members appreciate his approach, the powers-that-be frown upon his "unschooled" methods and attempt to prevent him from practicing. Philip Seymour Hoffman (MAGNOLIA) and Monica Potter (ALONG CAME A SPIDER) co-star in this crowd pleaser based on a book by Adams. WHAT DREAMS MAY COME: Four years after the tragic death of their children in a car accident, Dr. Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) is estranged from his wife, Annie (Annabella Sciora), a painter who finds solace in mystical expressionist landscapes. When flustered Annie calls him for support and he rushes out to help, he is killed in a road accident. His ghost is greeted by an old mentor, Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who leads him in Ghost-of-Christmas-Past-style to Annie's side. But when Chris realizes that his adherence to the corporeal world is torture to himself and the living Annie, he breaks free of his earthly bonds and dives into the visual smorgasbord that is the afterlife. There he splashes though clouds and gobs of technicolor paint in breathtaking landscapes suggested to him by Annie's paintings. From there, to grandiose Romanesque cities of flying children, Chris and his old dog are met by a gorgeous stewardess, who reveals herself as a nearly forgotten face from his past. As Chris reconciles with his children in a world where imagination is his palette, in the real world Annie becomes sicker and sicker, and finally enters the afterlife herself. Due to the myriad rules of the Other Side, she is unable to join Chris or her children, and Chris begins a fight for his future with his soulmate.
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