What the...

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2002)

Yes, I did understand the movie. No, I didn't think about it for days afterwards. But the thing that did come to mind was CHEAP ENDING.

Vanilla Sky, for me at least, was much more deserving of an Oscar nod than Beautiful Mind, just because the story was so intriguing and you genuinely wanted to find what happened to Tom Cruise's character Aames. Although the dialogue between him and Penelope Cruz is somewhat stilted, the visual collage throughout the film (notably the opening scene) as well as the progression of Aames into insanity makes it worth watching.
MAJOR SPOILER DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT
However the ending, though well-crafted, felt like a betrayal of the excellent story that had preceded it. Ultimately it's oh-by-the-way-it-was-all-a-dream-so-it-wraps-the-story-up-nicely ending, no matter how 'mind provoking' or whatever others may call it. It was simply TOO neat an ending; and the whole cryogenic freezing thing was a bit too wacky.
END OF SPOILERS
Nevertheless if you haven't seen it I would recommend you to - unless you despise Tom Cruise. Trust me, the whole film is Tom Cruise. The supporting cast, although good in their own respects, is very underutilised. Oh and the soundtrack is pretty good as well.
Seven out of ten.