THIS FILM IS REMARKABLE!!!

Rating: Null/10 (10 September 2002)

I do not understand why this film is so underrated. First off, let me say that I am not the biggest Tom Cruise fan, yet I thought his performance in "Minority Report" was wonderful, in addition to it being an intelligent and brilliant film. Anyway, I related to David Aames' character. I found myself wanting to be a pleasure delayer and hoping my girlfriend made me feel like Sophia made him feel. Plus how could you deny a film which embodied the line "we will meet in another life when we are both cats". And then witness a disfigured Tom Cruise move into an extreme close up and literally "meow" into the camera. Now that's classic! On the other hand, the whodunit element of the film did get a bit frustrating at times, but only with the first viewing. Afterwards it became an exercise in which I tried to pick up all the visual cues I missed the first time to help establish the meaning of the ending. Also, if you know anything about Cameron Crowe films, you know that he has to tell his stories with lots and lots of popular music, and what better way to lead viewers through the process of character development than with a good soundtrack. Interestingly, what I found out while I was in film school as an undergraduate -- I'm not bragging I just feel I should provide my credentials in this area -- (I have a Bachelors degree in Cinema and Photography) -- is that people love to conform films up into one word summaries. So, if I had to do that with this film, i would simply say that Vanilla Sky is merely about "Living". Rather good or bad, it's up to you. Finally, I don't know if what i'm about to say is a spoiler but to support my one-word-summation-theory about Living, Sophia's character best says it when she exclaims that "everyday is another chance to turn it all around". Simply put, Vanilla Sky is a wonderful film but you must pay attention to the dialogue to truly understand the brilliance of the film.