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VANILLA SKY Send This Review to a Friend
I don't know where their heads were at or what they were thinking when the powers that be made "Vanilla Sky." By any flavor this is one of the dumbest of the year's so-called major movies. Sitting through it is for masochists.
Writer-director Cameron Crow based the film on Alejandro Amenabar's earlier Spanish one, released here under the title "Open Your Eyes." Whatever one may have felt about the original, this one is a hodge-podge of absurdities. I wanted to shut my eyes.
There is a modicum of interest at first when we meet Tom Cruise as David Aames, a spoiled playboy who doesn't take anything seriously, but the character becomes tiresome pretty quickly. A breath of fresh air arrives with Cameron Diaz as Julie, emotionally not attuned to be used the way David casually uses women. The actress is one of the most attractive working in Hollywood these days. But it isn't long before she is replaced by Penelope Cruz as Sofia, and there's no comparison, either in the acting or the looks department.
There's no point in trying to recount the plot, insofar as one could even describe the twists and turns in-and-out of reality. Is it a dream? Is it really happening? What's does it all mean? Who cares? Crow outdoes himself in trying to be arty but the net effect is relentless pretentiousness.
At one point David, disfigured in an auto crash, has a horrific face. It is amusing to see Cruise made-up to look less than his handsome self. It's a scene that should warm the heart of every plastic surgeon in New York. What would you do to this Cruise wreck?
As for David's on-screen romance with Sofia, one doesn't sense much chemistry between them. Whatever happens between the stars off-screen to feed the gossip columnists is beside the point. I hope Cruise and Cruz at least enjoyed making the movie. For a film this much of a clinker even making lots of money shouldn't be enough. The supporting cast includes Kurt Russell, Jason Lee and Noah Taylor. My apologies for mentioning them. A Paramount Pictures release.
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