Raspberry Ripple Ocean

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2002)

SPOILER ALERT!! Cover versions. The last refuge of the talentless. Think of all your favourite songs, and then think of all the space-wasters who ruined them (for some reason Madonna's unforgivable "American Pie" springs to mind). But then think of John Cale doing "Hallelujah" or Soft Cell doing "Tainted Love". So maybe the cover version can be a noble art form - taking something that was great and shedding new light on it, showing it from a different angle. So, okay, musical cover versions are acceptable when done with style and imagination, but in the world of movies, they should still be avoided like the plague. Right? Certainly when it comes to such dismal travesties as Tim Burton's reimagining of "Planet of the Apes" the only sane response is an arson attack on any cinema daring to show it. But then what about Kaufman's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"? Surely the exception that proves the rule. And, by Christ, don't get me started on Hollywood's endless fascination with taking decent foreign-language movies and turning them into shameless duds, often starring Tom Selleck. And so, after several paragraphs of self-indulgent guff, we come to the actual subject of this piece, Mister Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky". A remake, for no apparent reason, of one of the coolest European films of recent years, "Open Your Eyes". Why was "Vanilla Sky" ever made? Why remake a very good movie? I have no idea. But, as is so often the way with movies that exist for no sane reason, "Vanilla Sky" is actually amazingly good. In fact, it may well be the most under-rated movie of 2001.
In fact, I will even go so far as to say that the years will be kinder to "Vanilla Sky" than to many recent movies, and that time will reveal it to be a genuinely-inspired "reimagining" (Oh God) of a classic movie, and the work of a genuine pop-culture artist. This is such a complex film that all its bad points could easily be seen as good ones. Please, stay with me. The worst failing of the movie is that Cruise's face is not nearly as f*cked-up as Noriega's in OYE. When we first see Noriega's damaged features we are genuinely shocked. When we first see Cruise's damaged features, we are thinking, "What the hell is his problem - a few scars? Big deal!" But, I would argue this could in fact be seen as a sly comment on the whole thing - Cruise's character is so perfect that the slightest imperfection makes his life unbearable and the whole fabric of reality falls apart. Is this in fact a sly comment on the Hollywood Star Machine itself? Possibly. Also, the finale, which in OYE was brilliantly demented, is more sedate and less inspired here. Again, however, this can be seen as a plus, because it grants us that great moment when Kurt Russell is asked his daughters' names and can't think of them. Also, the climax of "Vanilla Sky" takes place with the WTC in the background, adding a certain strange poignancy to the sequence - if this is all a dream, well, wouldn't you want your dream world to be one where 11/9/01 never happened? On the plus side, well, as Beth Orton intones on the end credits, where do I begin? I think my favourite moment (it's that kind of film, full of people's favourite moments) is the one where it is revealed that Cruise's character has been filling his dream world with images from popular culture - the cover of a Dylan album, a character from "To Kill a Mockingbird".
Cameron Crowe, the writer/director is so suffused with pop culture that his film bursts at the seams with references to movies, music, literature, architecture, clothes, and Lord knows what else. The soundtrack is fantastic, the film's autumnal glow is seductive and very easy on the eye, and the performances of all concerned are dazzling and believable. "Open Your Eyes" was always going to have the benefit of surprise behind it, so any remake was never going to have that same shock value. That said, "Vanilla Sky" is one of the most thought-provoking, intelligent, un-patronising, unpredictable, un-annoying movies to come out of Hollywood for many years. I hope it develops a cult following, because it deserves a lot better than to slip into obscurity. If you've already seen it, see it again. If you haven't already seen it, well, what are you waiting for?