Understand a few things ***SPOILERS HERE IN***

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2002)

Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky" may not be the total mind bending "alternative piece of film" that we may have wanted it to be, but it sure is something to behold. I understand that this film has received quite a number of bashings (not like "Pearl Harbor", but even those criticisms weren't that necessary) and an equal amount of praise as well. This is definitely a thinking persons kind of film, though not on the level of something say "The Usual Suspects" but is close to being there with an ending where all the missing pieces fall right in.
I've never seen the original Spanish film that "Vanilla Sky" was based on, so I'm not even going to waste my time making comparisons. I will say that judging from the reviews and the films story, that Cameron Crowe was not trying to outdo that film, but was trying make something close to it that all audiences, not just American could understand. Secondly, there is nothing wrong with the characters in the story. David Aames (Tom Cruise) is not a yuppie jerk, Sophia (Penelope Cruz) is acting no matter what people say, and Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz) is not a total nut job because it takes a lot to tell someone that you love them THAT much. For me, the characters make "Vanilla Sky" what it is, which is an "alternative piece of film", which is what I wanted it to be. The two main female characters in this film, to me, are both direct opposites of each other. They both love David Aames, but in different ways. Sophia loves David only after he has the reconstructive surgery that restores his former beauty. Julie loves him because of who he is on the inside, not because of what his face looks like although ironically she made him like that. There is nothing wrong with the story either. If there are any faults in the story, it's that the science fiction elements in the story aren't that well thought out and that's it. Also, many people are overlooking the fact that as one previous viewer already mentioned, the story is just a series of nightmares and the ending proves this: David was just dreaming.
So before you go making snap judgments, sit down and actually watch this movie. Who knows, you may just understand it. I know I do.