A pretentious failure

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2001)

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
It's rare that a film is so bad that I'm actually tempted to leave the theater, but Vanilla Sky was one of those movies that kept me wondering if I might be missing something good on C-SPAN-II.
Let's be honest -- Vanilla Sky is no grand achievement. It's no more a profound, psychological exploration of reality than a Thomas Kinkade print is an example of authentic art. Instead, it's an incoherent and ambiguous mindgame that pretends to be film noir with its intricate direction and cinematography.
The film begins with great potential  a story of redemption from the emptiness of inherited wealth and power. But within 30 minutes we find ourselves on a painfully slow roller coaster that unexpectedly dumps us into a science fiction story that has remarkable parallels to Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall, right down to the last-minute efforts of `tech support' to save our hero. It's almost as if the writers  in a desperate effort to work their way out of a convoluted and otherwise irresolvable plot  had to introduce a significant new element (the Life Extension `twist') with practically no warning at all.
When a movie's plot is weak, I look to its characters with the hope of finding some redeeming value to my $8 investment. (That's how I justified Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes.) But even here, Vanilla Sky falls short. Tom Cruise's real-life charm and million dollar smile prevent us from ever truly disliking him, yet the movie's opening scenes position David Aames as a shallow, smarmy rich kid. Fortunately for us, the mask he wears after the car accident hides that charm and allows Cruise to explore the depths of David's emerging psychosis. Are we supposed to like him? Does he deserve our sympathy? Ultimately, I just didn't care.
If she's not careful, Cameron Diaz runs the risk of inheriting the `Tom Cruise Charm Factor.' She's still as cute as she was as Kimmy in My Best Friend's Wedding, so Diaz really has to stretch to elicit anything beyond our delight at her presence on screen. Fortunately, she's reasonably successful here as David's neglected and demented love toy, and I wished the writers had spent more time exploring her character (whatever that means in light of the film's meaningless ending), especially given the hint we're given of Julie's genuine love for David.
Penelope Cruz's performance as the innocent player in this mess was surprisingly good, although I doubt she could pull off a role that required more depth and emotion, what with her thick (but seductive) accent. The writers missed the opportunity to use Sofia's authenticity and optimism to show David the meaning of life.
In the end, Vanilla Sky is about as deep as a roadside puddle. Somehow these `it was all just a dream' endings leave me feeling unsatisfied and eager for a brisk walk. Oh well, at least we get a good sountrack out of it.