VANILLA SKY (2001) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Tilda Swinton, Noah Taylor. Based on the film "Abre Los Ojos" written by Alejandro Amenabar and Mateo Gil. Written for the screen and directed by Cameron Crowe
Vanilla Sky is a strange movie that will challenge your perception of reality.
David Aames (Tom Cruise) is the young, spoiled and charming head of a vast New York City publishing empire. He lives a freewheeling existence and is somewhat thoughtless in his relationships.
David is involved in what he believes is merely a casual relationship with Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz).
At his birthday party, David meets Sofia Serrano (Penelope Cruz), a charming dancer-dentist's assistant who captures his heart. Leaving his own party, David takes Sofia home and they spend the night talking. An instant attraction is apparent between them.
When David leaves to go to work, he finds Julie waiting outside for him. It is then that David makes the fateful decision that changes his life.
Vanilla Sky is a multilayered, different type of movie in the style of Fight Club and The Sixth Sense. It is a feature that calls for all total concentration from the viewer. Vanilla Sky will surprise you and confound you, but it is an experience worth trying.
The movie plays like a psychological thriller then makes a turn into the realm of science fiction - or does it?
Writer-director Cameron Crowe is not offering any easy answers. Based on a 1997 Spanish romantic thriller entitled Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), Vanilla Sky continually keeps the audience off balance and guessing.
The film's success or failure rests on Cruise's shoulders. He is in almost every scene. His character's trajectory, he is told, is `a journey of self-awakening.' Cruise's David is thoughtless and inconsiderate in his dealings with those closest to him. Yet he is so good-natured and charismatic that you - like most of his friends - tend to overlook and forgive him.
David is not cruel, merely a self-absorbed `smooth operator.' Cruise's demanding performance is exceptional. He is one of those actors whose very good looks almost obscure the fact that he also is a very fine actor - just watch Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire or Magnolia for confirmation.
Diaz, in a departure from previous roles, is enchantingly scary as Julie, David's scorned lover. On the surface, she's a sexy vixen, all laughs and smiles, doing what she can to make David love her.
But underneath she houses enough pain, rage and resentment toward David that she takes a course of action that alters everyone's life.
Cruz, reprising her role from the Spanish film, is like a dream. She is supportive, loving, sexy, frank and ethereal as David's true love. She, alone, sees the beauty inside David.
The cast also includes Kevin Smith favorite Jason Lee as Brian, David's best friend. Brian is an author whose book David's company will publish when he finishes writing it. It is also Brian that David unintentionally hurts by openly flirting with Sofia, who was Brian's date at David's birthday party.
Kurt Russell is strong and supportive as McCabe, David's father-figure psychologist. The overlooked and underappreciated Tilda Swinton makes the most of her brief appearance as a corporate shill.
Writer-director Crowe has crowded his film with pop culture references to the point of pretension. He continually perplexes the viewer. His movie, basically, is a life lesson about the consequences of narcissism, and who better to star than the ultimate movie icon, the always grinning Cruise.
You may walk out of Vanilla Sky scratching your head, perhaps even feeling cheated. But it is one of those films you will be talking about with friends, trying to discern what it was all about and what it all meant.
