"Open your eyes."
Tom Cruise plays a daring part for an actor who depends on his good looks to sell tickets. Correct that, good looks and good acting.
Tom plays a successful young man who owns a multi-million dollar magazine company but a female
companion who feels used and abused decides to take both their lives in a car accident. The accident leaves him disfigured and
and most times masked. This is a daring thing for an actor who counts on his face to bring in an audience.
"Isn't that what being young is all about, believing that you will be the only person in recorded history to live forever."
Penelope Cruz has made a decade's worth of critically acclaimed Spanish films. In america she has starred in BLOW with
Johnny Depp and in CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN with Nicholas Cage. In VANILLA SKY, a film named
after a Monet painting, she plays a beautiful temptress who capture's the insensitive playboy's heart. What he sees in her is really beyond
this writer. I find nothing appealling in Ms. Cruz's appearance whatsoever. Her acting is not an issue at all as she is very good. Now don't
get carried away with the threats over this okay, it is just my opinion.
"One day you'll know what love truly is."
Cameron Diaz a much more beautiful woman plays Tom's little sex toy. Unfortunately for David Aames (Tom's character), he has
failed to realize just how much this woman loved him. In a jealous rage she decieds that they should both die. Diaz performs brilliantly
as the jealous lover. She is her cute, flirtatious self in this movie, yet she is seductive and sexy in a sinister way. She seems at times evil
but she is just an insecure and anger, jilted lover. Her vengeance is deadly.
"Who can I trust? The ants are taking over the anthill."
The film opens with an overhead view of the city from the sky...THE VANILLA SKY. The opening sequence should tip you off that
this is not going to be a run of the mill story. Thirty three year old David Aames wakes up, gets in his car and goes to work but there are no
other cars or people on the road. He gets out of his car and finds himself in a completely empty Times Square and screams...he wakes up.
If you are a Kubrick fan you will probably like this movie. This is the type of movie where you should watch things carefully and see if you
can figure out what is going to happen.
"Do you really love me? Do you really love me, otherwise I'll have to kill you."
When David wakes up Julie (Cameron Diaz) is there in bed with him. The sexy Julie makes it clear to David that she sees their
relationship as much more than a sexual flings. David on the other hand sees her as just the plaything of the moment. David goes on
with his playboy life in the company of one of his writer friends, Brian Shelby played by a beared Jason Lee. At David's 34th birthday
party, Brian introduces his friend Sofia to David, who is quickly smitten by her. For the first time David realizes he is in love which is a cruel
piece of luck since Brian really loves Sofia as well.
"Dig deep, David. Dig deep."
Director Crowe throws in flash forwards in time where we see psychiatrist Dr. Curtis McCabe (Kurt Russell) talking to a patient
in what looks like prison. It is David wearing a mask. David has been accussed of murder and Dr. McCabe is trying to decide whether or
not David is insane. These flash forward scenes occur throughout the movie as we see what has led to David's imprisonment. These
scenes allow Cruise to really act instead of looking pretty.
"When you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise."
Eventually David and Julie have their confrontation that leads to the death of Julie and David's disfigurement. Diaz really shines when she
explains to David how much she loves him and how he has abused her feelings. The angier she gets tthe faster she drives her car. David
sitting as the unwilling passenger tries to calm her but she can not be denied. Julie drives the car off a bridge and into a wall.
Director Crowe lingers on the scene of the wreckage in what is probably the last scene in the movie to give you the chills. David wakes
up in bed next to Sofia. He tells her of the dream he just had about Julie committing suicide with him in the car. Was this a dream? No.
David wakes up a mess from the accident. Crowe plays it risky with clever staging of intergrated flashbacks, flash forwards, dreams and
reality. These are woven together seamless to present the story to us while trying to trick us as well. By the end of the film, Crowe fits
everything into place.
"My dreams are a cruel joke. They taunt me."
David body has been repaired after many operations but his face and psyche are a different story. For his face the doctors give him an
expensive life-like latex mask to wear when he goes out in public. Unfortunately nothing seems to work for his mind until he once again
joins up with Sofia, who is more than willing to accept him the way he is. David tries to accept her feelings but his mind constantly
plays tricks on him wherein he sees not Sofia in bed with him but Julie. His mind starts to quickly deteriorate until someone else finally
dies or is killed.
"I can't even begin to tell you what they did; it was like science fiction."
During David's discussions with Dr. MaCabe I thought maybe that the whole point of the mask that David wears was to hide the fact
that he was not really disfigured but his mind made him see himself that way. Was I right? I'm not telling. In a scene reminicent of The
Phantom Of The Opera Sofia peels off the mask from his face piece by piece until his perfect face is exposed. Real or dream?
Come now, on you know I'm not going to snitch.
"You were missed David."
One of the harshest and best acted scene in the movie is when a masked David finally goes out to a dance with Brian and Sofia. David tries
to accept what he now is and wants to believe that Sofia accepts him but his drinking out of sympathy for himself causes the chasm between
them to open even farther. Cruise is superb in this scene which ends up with David passing out on the street outside of Sofia's place.
A turning point for David.
"Somebody died and it was me."
Whether you acccept the ending is up to you but it is definitely worth while. I started to figure it out about half way into the movie when Benny
the dog is mentioned a number of times throughout the film. Benny the dog you say? Well hey that's up to you to see how that fits into the
storyline. I was close in my idea of what was happening but I was still not on the money. Oh yeah, do not let the trailer fool you, this is not
a new FATAL ATTRACTION movie, it's a lot stranger.
"Mortality as entertainment? This can not be the future. Can it?."
By the time the Vanilla Sky calls to David at the end of the movie you will have to decide if you accept the premise presented to you. I liked
it and I think most of you will, but of course some of you will be upset by it because this isn't an action film. The film, as I mentioned earlier,
is something Stanley Kubrick could have directed. If you go in expecting something out of the ordinary you won't be disappointed. I can't
honestly say that I would to see it more than once since once you know the gimmick then there is really nothing more.
|
|
RETURN TO MOVIE REVIEW LISTINGS
RETURN TO METROCITY
