A Misstep for Crowe and Cruise

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2004)

Tom Cruise is a movie star, not an actor. Which is sort of a shame for him, because part of what makes Tom Cruise so likable and successful is the fact that he tries so hard: from his earliest scene-stealing efforts in 'The Outsiders' and 'Taps' to 2004's 'Collateral,' Cruise has never stopped working to prove himself. There's no other explanation for how a vertically challenged, horse-toothed kid with a hawk's beak and a nasally voice to match could redefine star quality and become one of the biggest box office draws in movie history.
But let's face it: this guy is no Olivier. More often than not, he has played the same role in barely altered incarnations (ex: in 'Top Gun,' he's a cocky, reckless Navy pilot with an Oedipal hang-up facing down his fears; in 'A Few Good Men' he's a cocky, reckless Navy JAG lawyer with an Oedipal hangup . . . etc.). Even in his better performances, he badly overacts, specializing in stagey emotional displays that tend toward unintentional comedy. Cruise can be a commanding presence when the director in charge knows how to exploit him appropriately, as did Oliver Stone in 'Born on the Fourth of July' and P.T. Anderson in 'Magnolia,' where the character either matched Cruise's persona--Ron Kovic, the Vietnam vet Cruise plays in 'Born on the Fourth of July,' is, like Cruise, a small, scrappy, intense, highly emotional overachiever--or was designed with Cruise in mind, as is the case with most of his post-'Top Gun' ouevre, including his role as Frank T.J. Mackey in 'Magnolia'. In both of those roles, Cruise emotes shamelessly--shaking bouts of grief-stricken weeping mar both performances--and yet you still like him, and you're still rooting for him, which is what makes him a movie star. But for the very same reason, you NEVER FORGET that he's a movie star--that is, audiences are always aware that they're watching Tom Cruise, super-celebrity. Suspension of disbelief when watching a Tom Cruise film is impossible. It probably wouldn't be any easier even if he were as good an actor as he desperately wants to be. Unfortunately, he's not.
This is glaringly obvious in 'Vanilla Sky,' which has Cruise playing an utterly despicable character with the depth of a backyard birdbath. David Aames lives in an adolescent wish-fulfillment fantasy: heir to a magazine publishing fortune, he still rides a skateboard at thirty-three, spends most of his time clubbing, shopping, toning his rock-hard abs with his sycophantish starving-artist pal Brian (Jason Lee), or laying one of the scores of beautiful babes who are suckers for his wealth and cocksure good looks. David's arrogance and self-absorption are obviously setting him up for a fall, which I won't disclose here other than to say that one should never get in a car being driven by an obviously emotionally unstable woman you've been using for sex. But after said fall, David does not work through his folly to become a likable guy, but, rather, remains a narcissistic jerk desperate to reclaim the easy, comfortable, pleasure-seeking life he once enjoyed.
One can't really comment on the intricacies of the plot without giving the whole thing away, so I'll simply say that it was better the first time, in Alejandro Amenabar's 'Abre Los Ojos', the original version of the story from which Cameron Crowe adapted 'Vanilla Sky.' What I can say without spoiling is that a film such as this stands or falls on the audience's ability to sympathize with the main character, which is virtually impossible here.
Despite the implications of this review, I really like Tom Cruise--I even enjoyed 'The Last Samurai,' the latest in the line of self-produced (with partner and agent Donna Wagner) star vehicles in which Cruise plays the macho-but-stoically sensitive stock-character that made him famous. But 'Vanilla Sky' was a misstep, both for Cruise and for director Cameron Crowe, who, despite his skill, is incapable of making the audience care what happens to a jerk like David Aames.
The most frustrating aspect of 'Vanilla Sky' is that it is a visually arresting film with a superb cast (Lee, best-known for his turn as the cynical, acerbic Banky in 'Chasing Amy,' is excellent as always, as are Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Noah Taylor, Kurt Russell, Tilda Swinton, and Timothy Spall). A scene in which David finds himself in a deserted Times Square (not a digital mock-up or soundstage; it's the real thing) is itself worth the price of admission. But the film as a whole is inscrutable, and Cruise is unable to inject Aames with enough complexity or even a shred of likability to compensate for the meanderings of the plot and the essential loathsomeness of his character.