Top Box Office Movies

Vanilla Sky (2001) Paramount Pictures
2 hrs. 19 mins.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell.
Directed by: Cameron Crowe

Vanilla Sky

Rating:

E-MAIL GIANCARLO DE LISI

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Times Square is already a sight to behold in itself with all the lights and sound, but imagine the world's most photographed tourist attraction silent. Cameron Crowe manages to shutdown Times Square and captures this magnificent site in what sets the tone for the most mind-bending, headache inducing, multifaceted frustrating film to hit theatres in quite a long time.

Director Cameron Crowe adapts the haunting 1997 Spanish Film "Abre Los Ojos' and transforms it into an indescribably brilliant piece of entertainment in 'Vanilla Sky'. This is not your typical Studio conformist film that will leave audiences with a sense of satisfaction, but rather with a sense of shock, interest, sadness, confusion and utter disbelief - simultaneously.

Tom Cruise plays David Aames, a womanizing millionaire who becomes horribly disfigured after his obsessive lover (Cameron Diaz) decides to commit suicide by driving herself off a bridge - with him in the car. The crash creates a world where nothing is as it seems that has David 's story throw the viewers into one intellectual hurdle after another.

Note: the key word in the previous sentence was intellectual. If anyone expects a timid, bland conventional film, they will be disappointed. This is not a romantic film, nor a formulaic film. But it is an exercise into the intellectual psyche of our David Aames character as he plays back the sequences that lead to his arrest for a murder. As aforementioned, intellectualism is the key to this film. Viewers must enthrall themselves into this film to appreciate its unique blend of flashback sequences, musical incorporation as only Crowe can do and mind-bending storytelling that throws you a curve at every unexpected turn.

Before people begin to think that everyone will love this film, you must not make my words control your opinions. Many will completely dislike this film, in fact, I am sure only a minority will actually truly see this film for what it is - a simple 'Mind F&%K'. Not since David Fincher's 'Fight Club' has there been a film so 'out there' that remains engrained within your thoughts long after the film and thus remains open to such misunderstandings.

Cameron Crowe directs Cameron Diaz in a short; albeit juicy role, as Aames' jealous casual squeeze that begins to feel threatened at the appearance of Aames' interest in the mystical Sophia (Penelope Cruz). This emergence of interest between Aames and Sophia causes Diaz's character to spiral into a whirlwind of rage as the movie propels itself into a different stratosphere after the simple yet effectively shot car crash. If one were to study the acting within the film, the attention will be directed towards Cruise's performance as we get to see both sides of this womanizing yet desperately lonely figure who searches for something more.

And as audiences leave the theatre, they too will want something more. They will want answers. This film makes for hours of interesting debate and conversation as every scene can be meticulously deconstructed and analyzed as it culminates into one of the most absolutely twist endings in recent memory. Yet, that it is not to say that the film contains no imperfections.

Crowe makes no secret of 'shmaltzing' his way through pacing and character development in the film and making sure we fall for the wrong clues. Furthermore, he enjoys capturing his characters in their most brutal and defenseless moments. Also, Crowe wants to hammer the notion that our main character is not what he seems. Also, many might find the film pretentious for its slow pacing and tedious flashback story telling, which I myself found a turn off and took some time getting used, but one cannot deny the brilliance of the film.

Without a doubt, many will criticize the film for its' ambitiousness that it might not have achieved according to some, but this is just too great of a character piece to dislike. It is haunting, it is disturbing and it is exquisitely filmed with some great moments of cinematography -notice NYC's archaic overhead shots, Bob Dylan's Album Cover brought to life and Cruise's fall to earth in the film's unravelling moments. Notwithstanding the film's frenetic back and forth storytelling, and it's over the top character development, this film must not go unwatched. See it for Cruise's performance, or see it for the direction, but see the film. This is a film that will leave many baffled throughout the entire third act, making us hang on every detail that may or may not unravel the film's explanation.

After viewing the film, many will feel let down or even mislead by its' seemingly surreal sci-fi ending which may turn on or turn off viewers. 'Total Recall' may come to mind for those film buffs who really studied the film and understood it to its' fullest extent, yet 'Vanilla Sky' will long not be forgotten as the film that even if one were to follow the tagline 'Open Your Eyes', they still won't exactly know what the hell happened.

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Giancarlo De Lisi
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