Kubrick would have liked this!

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2001)

Not since 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, has a film generated such emotion (both on and off screen). It actually draws parallels with that film, amongst so many others, but we will get to that later! Curiously, it has attracted much the same critical disapproval as Kubrick's work. Seen by many as "boring," "self-indulgent" and "convoluted," it is none of these things. It IS however an unapproachably brilliant work of art, from my viewpoint at least perhaps the greatest film ever made and as close to 2001 in depth and visual brilliance as anyone is ever going to get! Cameron Crowe has not "done" it for me before, and I really couldn't care if he never "does it" again. Kubrickian in stature and mystique he isn't, more like the neighbor you never really got into, and whom you might stumble across in the homewares aisle in your local S-Mart. What he has achieved with VANILLA SKY however is mind-numbing greatness, to which so many people have contributed their very souls.
To try to summarise or come up with an encompassing precis of this flick is to undervalue if not trivialise a masterpiece. Its greatness lies essentially in its opening line "Open your eyes"...the only problem IS, you need to have SEEN the film to realise the staggering implications of what you are hearing. OPEN YOUR EYES of course was the original Spanish film from masterful newcomer Alejandro Amenaber who scaled the heights in Hollywood with this year's THE OTHERS. Rather than identify the film in question, aware viewers may well feel a sense of deja vu here, recalling to mind the line "Open your mind...open your mind" which was surely a precursor, if not the inspiration behind both films. Functioning along multiple awareness channels throughout its 153 minute run-time, VANILLA SKY is alternately, intellectually challenging and emotionally involving. Whether you view it as a thriller, a black comedy, outrageous sci-fi or even JERRY MAGUIRE on acid, this is pure brain-drain, a "fix" for the fanciful!
The opening scenes, as Cruise finds himself in a totally deserted Times Square, seemingly in "virtual" impossibility sets the viewer up for what is to follow - a mind-trip through hell and beyond the infinite, literally!!! Think MATRIX, JACOBS LADDER, THE SIXTH SENSE, FIGHT CLUB and one other that I shall sensibly refrain from nominating and yes, they are ALL here, but still the mystery remains!
Tom Cruise as millionaire playboy David Aames who inherits 51% controlling interest in his father's publishing empire, is a lost soul. Trouble is, right now he doesn't realise HOW lost! That this is the performance of his career is without question - its the performance of ANYONE's career! Running the gamut of experiences, from smartass yuppie to emotionally decimated and disfigured Joe Blow, the film orbits his character as surely as the planets in our solar system. As his legal advisor, Kurt Russell gives HIS greatest performance too, aided as it is by a script of sheer genius. Cameron Diaz, playing his long-suffering and heartbroken lover of convenience Julie Gianni, turns in one awesomely vivid performance, one that can only end in tragedy - though DOES it? You can never assume that what you see was actually what you think you saw!
As for Penelope Cruz, reprising her role as Sophia Serrano in OPEN YOUR EYES, she really is a cutie. The chemistry between her and Cruise is just so obvious and up there for all to see. It is easy to see what Cruise could see in HER that Nicole Kidman could never exude in three lifetimes... at least, I can see it!
Like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the last quarter of an hour will either blow your mind or leave you cold, wondering "Hmm what was all that about?" Anyone NOT moved by the Gregory Peck/Bob Dylan revelations (this will make sense ONLY if you have seen this flick) should never have been watching this film in the first place, while the very last ten seconds of VANILLA SKY must wring and hang out to dry, whatever emotions the aware viewer has left, after this movie experience of a lifetime.
Yeah, I liked it!