Vanilla Sky – Review

This remake of a Spanish film was not a critical hit in America, and only found so much success and longevity with movie-going audiences beyond the box office. That being said, I have always loved Vanilla Sky, ever since first viewing. It offers so much to contemplate, and is competently presented in all aspects.

A surreal and complicated tale is woven non-sequentially, presenting themes of love, loss, jealousy, happiness, anger, confusion, and overall life/death examinations. The plot revolves around rich asshat David Ames (Cruise), who is now in charge of his father’s publishing empire posthumously. David wrestles with his privileged life and finding his own place in the world, as he can’t seem to escape his father’s shadow. He tussles with the board of directors for ultimate control, as his 51% ownership is at odds with the other 49% of the shareholders that deem David as immature.

Despite the threat to his corporate success, David blows through life hanging with friends (Lee), dating an aspiring actress (Diaz) and meeting a new interest at his extravagant birthday party (Cruz). As David falls for Cruz, he finds that he may have overlooked some of life’s nuances, however then the movie kicks into high-gear.

Surrounding these plots is the main focal point of the movie: a tragic accident which blows David’s world up entirely. The accident also lands David serious legal troubles; however he begins to question the accident, and his own reality as events continue to unfold. Was this accident truly all it seemed to be?

The relationships are complex and real. The dialogue is crackling with subtlety, naturalness and truth. The acting is superb, and all characters are fleshed out. The underlying psychological nature is always bubbling under the surface before being brought to the front-stage in the movie’s endgame.

The jigsaw type presentation of this film, combined with gorgeous visuals, excellent music and heavy thematic imagery leads to a wonderful and dreamlike viewing experience, even if it runs a tad long. The cognitive nature of the questions that the story asks should leave the watcher pondering many of life’s mysteries for a long time after the credits roll.

On a final note, I know that most in the movie-watching community prefer the original Spanish version Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos), however for me personally, the Vanilla Sky version is the one that resonates more with me. I did see it first, so maybe that is part of my opinion. This is also not to bash the original, which is also excellent, and I do typically prefer “original versions” more. I love that Penélope Cruz played the same character in both versions; how bad-ass is that?