Up in the air or down on the ground?

Rating: 6/10 (2 October 2003)

Its only in the last 10 or 15 minutes of this film that we have an explanation as to what this movie is really all about;( a device which I found in context amateur-ish). Whilst the picture is often entertaining, it is confusing and uneven in parts and I had the impression that much of the film was made up as it went along even though at the end that was unlikely to be the case but that was the impression given to me. On the plus side....nice music, good special effects though the Spanish actress seem to be there more for her looks than talent. It is true that as the story unfold various "clues" are given as to where the plot is going but unlike for instance Matrix which can be said to be in the classic category, Vanilla Sky is a victim of its own confusion and that dilutes much of what ought to be a thought provoking theme. Take a look at that normally articulate and erudite film reviewer Roger Ebert's comments who had to see the film twice and even then his review sounds like he was finding it difficult to make head or tail of it! My vote is 6 out of 10.