Crowe's Pop World

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2001)

Cameron Crowe has proven himself once again in Vanilla Sky, his follow-up to last year's Almost Famous. With wonderful pop culture references, pop music, and not to mention Mr. Tom Cruise, Crowe has left us with a very original take on the original film, Abre los Ojos. Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys are just some of the tunes that fill Vanilla's sky. There is one scene that relly left an impression on me that uses the Beach Boy's song, Good Vibrations. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that the contrast it had with the scene had me giddy. This film got me excited about film again, and reminded me that there are real directors left in the world. You can tell Crowe is doing what he loves, and that he is a fan of movies as well. I remember reading a story about when he and Cruise were going over to Billy Wilder's home, trying to convince him to do a cameo in Jerry Maguire. Wilder was Crowe's mentor, and in Cameron's hand as he walked into Wilder's hous, was an original poster from Wilder's film, The Apartment, Crowe's favorite film. Cameron, I have my Almost Famous poster standing by.