weak

Rating: 5/10 (20 January 2006)

this movie reminded me a little of cameron's "singles"... the start of VS was far more "romantic comedy" then the original Spanish movie that it is based on, namely "abre los ojos"... however, unlike "singles", which strode the borderline between schmaltzy rom-com and offbeat comedy drama, "vanilla sky" drifts off into a mushy parallel universe where everyone is witty and charming...
this blows the second and more challenging portion of the film out of the water... oddly enough, "singles" also had a startling change of pace... where that was handled with deft, wrenching brutality, VS flounders and drowns...
too light to be a drama, too strange to work as a comedy...
it also sports a soundtrack i would normally applaud, with the likes of radiohead and sigur ros (and others)... but the songs would surface in the worst way, only highlighting the dreamy soft spots or the sunny, mellow acoustic strum parts... this heightened the teenage saccharine feel for me... i think our director has become a little sentimental...
i guess most people would accuse me of trying to score cool points by recommending the original, but it really is a far better movie... the lead character is more interesting, despite being thoroughly unlikeable... i guess tom didn't want play a part people might despise...
oh and cruz phoned in her performance this time around... it's time to "open your eyes"...