Better than expected, still doesn't hold a candle to the original though

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2005)

"Vanilla Sky" suffers from a bit of mainstream Americanalization. (Is that a word? I don't think so, but oh well.) It's the US taking a popular and successful foreign film (the Spanish "Obres Los Ojos," a.k.a. "Open Your Eyes") and re-working it with... Tom Cruise in the lead? "Vanilla Sky" is, then, the ultimate cliché of the America/remake fascination inherent in most mainstream Hollywood films these days. People on this site love to bash Hollywood for doing this - they consistently take foreign films and remake them with popular American names. Casting Cruise is a bit too much of a cliché to be true. He's America's most popular actor alive (statistically, anyway).
Surprising, then, that the movie isn't bad. In fact, it's quite good, at least in a watchable sort of way. Although it doesn't hold a candle to the original, Cameron Crowe ("Fast Times" scribe and "Jerry Maguire" director) is still pretty capable behind the camera and Cameron Diaz proves she has some amount of acting abilities as she portrays a character unlike any other in her resume.
The big disappointment is Penelope Cruz, returning to her role in the Spanish film, only this time playing it in English. And she's not very good at speaking English and we have to wonder, "Why did they cast her?" Plus, and maybe this is just me... but I don't find her very attractive. Between her and Diaz, I'd take Diaz, even if she was a suicidal maniac.
Overall I was rather entertained and amused by the film, even if it's nothing special. And believe me, it's not. But Tom Cruise is better than expected. And his notorious vanity pays off -- we finally get to see his face all messed up. Alas, he can't remain like this for the entire duration of the film. That would be American Hollywood sacrilege. I can just hear the producers: "Tom Cruise playing a facially disfigured man? WHAT?!"