Poor remake of a beautiful story

Rating: 3/10 (15 May 2007)

This movie is an insult to the original version, Abre los Ojos. The original's title means open the eyes, but when you see this clumsy and wretched abomination, you'll want to close them again. Perhaps even gouge them out.
The Spanish movie boasted a fine cast, skillful direction, and exquisite cinematography in relating a beautiful, romantic, inspiring, and thought provoking tale that touches both the heart and mind. This rubbish copy fails to do any of this. All you see is Tom Cruise sauntering around with a bizarre blemish on his face, while reciting lines in an uninspired mono tonal manner that fails to convey the rich story. A movie that poses questions about reality and fantasy, among several other topics, requires (and deserves) more convincing acting. Penelope Cruz did a fine job in the original, yet looks like a broken marionette in this version. Cameron Diaz, doing her same old over-aged teen girl bit, is simply annoying.
A rare positive note here is Kurt Russell, not only for the one superior performance in this film, but for putting up with all these hacks and not just giving up as most people would be tempted to do. Also, I applaud whoever punched Tom in the face, marking him up like that: well done. These elements, and the few remnants of the original story that made it into this convoluted excursion to nowhere are the only reason this isn't a "1."
Avoid this dreadful mess, and see the original instead.