Interesting

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2002)

Vanilla Sky commences with a disconcerting opening. Spoilers. Tom Cruise running through Times Square and not a soul to be seen. Thankfully it's just a scary dream of no significance, at least that's the opinion of his shrink.
We then go on to see that David Aames (Tom Cruise) is the son of a highly respected businessman whose biography is a best seller. Only he is no longer alive and David is a 51% shareholder in his previously overseen company. The remaining percentage is distributed evenly among 7 board members, whom David refers to as the seven dwarfs. His personal life is somewhat a mess. He's attracted to his best friend's love interest while stringing along another eccentric woman Julie Gianni played by Cameron Diaz. After a romantic date with Sofia Serrano played by Penelope Cruz, he is confronted by Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz) `What about promises' She protests as she drives of a bridge committing suicide and leaving David comatose. David eventually wakes up from the comma with extensive face and nerve damage and assumes his daily roles with grace.
At this point the movie begins to portray Tom's subconscious, because in actuality he is dead and in a life extension trance. He conveys his hopes, dreams, desires and fears in this state for the latter part of the movie, using prior knowledge from life and stereotypes. Although this movie is very intricate, it's smart because it held my attention and portrayed the many truths of life. While the movie is unique it's also similar to Brain Scan, The Matrix and Total Recall.
Kurt Russell is extraordinary in his portrayal of an ordinary psychiatrist, who desperately wants to believe his client. Both Tom and Kurt acted beautifully and complimented each other. Cameron Diaz was frightfully convincing as the eccentric stalker and Penelope Cruz was sweet as aspired girlfriend. My overall assessment: 9/10.