Overused dreams killed it for me

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2002)

One of the favorite ploys of Hollywood (and one of my pet peeves) is the use of dream sequences. Sometimes it's a necessary thing and they'll make it obvious that you're looking at a dream (reverbed sound, surrealistic surroundings). But all too often, the dream sequence is just the movie's way to lead you to believe that an amazing thing is happening, and then say "GOTCHA!! Just kidding..." when the actor wakes up.
This is the problem that I had with Vanilla Sky. Yes, I understand that dreams were a critical plot element, but I like to get caught up in the story and try to figure out what is happening. During the course of this movie, I ultimately got sick of being duped and just sat back, waiting for the end of the film to come and tell me the punchline.
That said, I didn't think that the movie was a waste of my time. The cinematography and soundtrack were terrific. Aside from Tom Cruise (who should stick with action films like Impossible Mission sequels), I thought that the entire cast was great. Ok... when the camera was on Penelope Cruz, I sort of lost my reasoning abilities, but I'm guessing she did ok.
Perhaps I'd like it better the second time when I have a clue about what's going on.