Vanilla lifted to cinematic Godliness is still Vanilla

Rating: 5/10 (18 December 2001)

Contains Spoilers David Aames (Tom Cruise) is a Casanova-about-town: a young, rich, handsome, and fashionable New Yorker who inherits the lucrative family business at a tender age--although his wealth could be snatched from him if he loses his ability to function rationally. Few boundaries seem to limit his lust for life, wine, women, and song (especially women). David's future seems etched in purest gold, just as his heart and sentiments appear to be fabricated of the cheapest plastic.
Everything goes wrong when Julie (Cameron Diaz), AKA his "love-making buddy" (er, that's an elegant facsimile of the cruder term used in the script) decides to take exception to his recently-acquired affection for Sofia (Penélope Cruz). In particular, Julie feels compelled to drive like a maniac, eventually smashing her car into a stone wall. Unfortunately our hero David's in the passenger's seat. Result: she's dead, and he has to bear dreadfully disfiguring physical and emotional scars for the rest of his life.
When David first meets Sophia, this appears as if it might turn into an odd version of a "10" knockoff (with Cruz as Bo Derek). After the car accident, we have the sense that David will somehow transform himself, now that he's not so stunningly handsome anymore: as if Dorian Gray could somehow experience an afterlife as Mother Teresa.
But Dorian Gray was genuinely evil: David's just a spoiled rich playboy-cad. Nevertheless, the script tantalizingly teases our hopes that perhaps this is a story about true love and redemption. But things soon go from bad to worse, as we realize that much of the movie is told from in retrospective from his view--while incarcerated for murder (the supposed victim turns out to be Cruz, not Diaz).
After that, things begin to go haywire to an even greater extent. Tom Cruise's character goes to a restaurant and _wills_ the patrons to stop talking. He makes love to Cruz and sees Diaz after he climaxes. Other events occur that make the viewer feel utterly bereft of the capability to discriminate between reality and imagination. By this time (about halfway through the 2-1/2 hour film), we've long since noticed that protagonist himself has lost that ability. But, why? Is his apparent madness the result of a plot to disinherit him?
Unfortunately, the subject of "Vanilla Sky" isn't crime or intrigue. Nor is it an uplifting story about true love, loss and redemption, and/or self-discovery. For one thing. at most Cruz (Sophia) and possibly David's superfluous side-kick (Brian, played flawlessly by Jason Lee) appear to either possess--or acquire--even the tiniest hint of genuinely interesting character development.
And whatever "arty" feel that Cameron Crowe (director and script writer) may have desired turns out to be utterly dispelled by a disappointingly thin and uninteresting plot. The only thing that holds your attention is the question of how the provided clues could actually produce a plausible result (actually the depicted events are barely believable to all but the hardest-core sci-fi fans).
When the ending is revealed, you walk away disappointed--as if you'd gone to a fancy restaurant boasting elegant decor, servers with French accents, and no prices on the menu ... only to find a high-end version of a Big Mac shamelessly dripping grease all over the edge of your Bone China plate, onto the fancy linen tablecloth below.
Yes, the acting is excellent. The music is compelling. The cinematography is wonderful. Even the script has more than its share of witty moments. (Although this reviewer believes that Cruise should've been yelling "Get me rewrite!" instead of "Tech support!" at one key moment towards the film's end.)
This film may be worth seeing if you like the actors, and you don't allow yourself to be taken in by the expectations that it raises and mercilessly dashes. Vanilla dreams--even when lifted heavenward--are doomed to be first-class bores. And if there was ever a guilded dandelion, this flick is it.