If you saw the original...

Rating: 6/10 (16 December 2001)

...than this has to be a disappointment. I wish I could see it "for the first time" again because Abre los Ojos was a masterpiece to me. Maybe I was SO deathly bored because I already knew what was going to happen? Also, please Mr Crowe, we know you love rock music but it's not a SUBSTITUTE for emotion. Please turn it dow, the old Monkees and Beach Boys makes this seem like a weak acid flick like Jack Nicholson's "Psyche Out".

Penelope Cruz seemed like a much better actress with subtitles, the reading is so monotone. The Cameron Diaz character was better in the first film because there was less of a "relationship" between her and David and she was less attractive. This makes her more dangerous, the more casual realtionship makes David more of a heel. Crowe, of course, would hesitate to make any main character less than likable, especially Tom Cruise, a fine actor who is miscast as he brings too much audience presupposition to this. The dialoge is TOO MUCH, as Crowe seems to want to add more meaning, more statements to a fine film that simply weigh it down. Unlike most foreign films, you cannot find Abre los Ojos boring or pretentious even if you hated it. Sadly, we can't say that this time around.
** 1/2 as my expectations may be too high compared to the first film, but the soundtrack and banter are too much.