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Zone's Eye View of "Vanilla Sky" |
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Synopsis of movie, courtesy of Paramount: Snowboarding through life, David Aames appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, wealthy and charismatic, the young New York City publishing executive's freewheeling existence is enchanting, yet he seems to be missing something. Now for The Zone's Eye View By Laura Alber Vanilla Sky, which gets its name from a Monet painting, is the American remake of the 1997 Spanish language feature, "Open Your Eyes." Cameron Crowe has taken us on a total mind bending experience with this remake. If you “thought” you knew what this movie was about, or where it was going just from watching the trailers, you will be amazed at just how wrong you were. This story takes us to places we never expected, incorporating a seemingly simple plot, which turns into dreams, scandals, betrayals, confusion and not until the end of the picture do all the answers come clear. Which is how a movie should be. The film almost challenges us to determine what is real and what is a dream. Crowe’s cast; Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee and Penelope Cruz are all perfect for their roles. I don’t say that often, ok…at all about Cruz, but in this case I digress. She was great in this role. David Aames (Cruise) has everything in the palm of his hands. Wealth, power, women, and a huge publishing company, all handed down to him by his father. David seems to take for granted all that has been bestowed on him, by being lazy, uninterested in his business, and keeping his relationship with Diaz as a casual romance only. At David’s Birthday Party, he doesn’t even invite Julie (Diaz); this is how casual he considers their relationship. Julie shows up anyway and lingers around the crowded room spying on David’s every move. His best friend Brian (Jason Lee) brings a date to the party, none other than Penelope Cruz (Sophia). David is instantly smitten with her, and discovers that he actually is capable of having real emotions. Sophia seems to be everything he’s been longing for, what has been missing from his life. Julie witnesses this attraction, and begins playing her little jealous games. The final straw comes when Diaz is waiting outside Sophia’s place for David to come out. She tells him she just wants to talk. Reluctantly, David gets in the car with her. He soon finds out that Julie’s feelings were much more than “casual” for David, and basically goes crazy with jealousy. So much so, that she runs them off a bridge smashing the car into a pile of metal. David emerges with facial scarring so bad that there is virtually no trace of his previous chiseled facial features. The doctors don’t seem to think they will be able to fix the problems with surgery, considering his jaw was broken in several places, and they had to insert tiny pins to hold everything together, causing extremely painful headaches for David. He doesn’t accept this disregard and tries to throw his money around, saying he’ll pay whatever it takes. They offer nothing to him that day except a “mask” which very much resembles Michael Myers’ mask in Halloween. They say it will protect his face from the elements and help it heal faster. Disgusted and frustrated, David storms out. He receives word right away that they have “just discovered” a possible surgery that would correct his disfigurement. Though highly suspicious, David decides to give it a try. What happens next is a complex, tangled, metaphysical, psychological escapade. We see David in a prison cell, for reasons unknown at this time, and he’s speaking with a psychologist played by Kurt Russell, who seems very empathetic to David’s predicament. This is where David tells the back-story of just how wonderful life was with Sophia. Still donning his mask, and unwilling to remove it for Russell, it’s almost like he feels that he deserves to wear it. Without giving away the intense and unexpected ending, lets just say that Vanilla Sky was well worth the “trip”, and it was definitely a Trip! Just as the Monet painting of the Vanilla Sky, which is serene, mystical and dreamlike, such is this film. Penelope Cruz seemed the logical choice for Sophia, since she originally played the same role in the original film “Open Your Eyes”. Although, the Spanish language version only grossed $368K, while “Vanilla Sky” has already grossed $101M. Quite an improvement financially. Cameron Crowe took a big risk with this film, after offering “Almost Famous” and “Jerry Maguire” just to name a couple. The risk paid off for him. It is truly a great “thinker” film. The cinematography is almost surreal at times and very intense; add to that a killer soundtrack and you’ve got a hit! This is a great rent, and the Zone rates “Vanilla Sky” a 7 out of 10. You’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat in excitement and scratching your head to figure things out through this one! Well Done!
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