Vanilla Fudge (Vanilla Sky (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Vanilla Sky (DVD)
Date:	30/11/00 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, Good Cast, Great Use of Music

Disadvantages: Can Be Dull, Will Annoy Some, Screws With Your Head

Your name is Tom Cruise, you're one of the world's biggest movie stars. Your production company has made some decent money with the films it's been involved in. One of them is made by a foreign film-maker who has a previous film that you quite like the look if and think would be good in the english language. You call up your buddy Cameron Crowe and say "hey let's make this movie, you've just won an oscar and I'm in desparate need of appearing in a movie where I can show that I really do have great hair!"

I like Cameron Crowe, his films have a certain air about them that you can't help liking. Singles is one of those romantic affairs that appeals to those of us who likes the music around the early nineties. Say Anything is another young hearted affair while Jerry Maguire is a movie that works on so many levels. As for Almost Famous, well that's one movie that was sorely overlooked last year. Vanilla Sky marks a departure for more darker pastures and to be honest I'm not really sure what I think.

This is a "cover version" of a spanish film Abre Los Ojos, made by Alejandro Amenabar who went on to bring us this year's creepy The Other's. Personally I haven't seen the film so I can't really comment on the similarities between the two films. Cruise plays David Aames, a rich New York playboy who sits at the head of a large publishing company handed down to him by his father. his lifestyle means he attracts all sorts of love in many forms. One such person is his f**k buddy Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz), a women who's a socialite and possibly unhinged in the mental department. One night at a party David becomes infatuated with a guest brought by his friend Brian (Jason Lee). The guest in question is Sofia (Penelope Cruz), a night of wonderment ensues before David's life soon spirals out of control. Julie's infatuation comes to the fore and soon David finds himself being charge
d with murder after he is a passenger in a car that Julie is driving, the car is sent hurtling over a bridge at high speed killing Julie. David is disfigured, his face not what it was and he finds himself reciting past events to a psychiatrist Dr McCabe (Kurt Russell).

The film mixes up events, showing what happened after the crash and before it.

If ever a film was designed to play with it's audience's mind then this is it. It's been a week since I saw the film and really I don't know if I liked it, loved it or thought it was completely average. It's certainly a film that won't please some, in fact many will find it infuriating and too difficult to understand.

What work's is the fact that it does ask you to actually think about what is happening but that's also one of the most infuriating aspects of the film. If a film was measured by a line graph then this would have many dips and high points. I found myself at times becoming very bored before something happened that turned things up a notch, made things interesting again and worthwhile.

The acting itself is very solid. Diaz is certainly scary and this role highlights how far she has come since being eye candy in The Mask. Cruz is someone who I can't really get into, there's something very elightweight about her that I don't like. By no means is she an awful actress but I feel that somehow she was cast purely because she was in the original. Jason Lee as always is excellent but the real surprise is Kurt Russell turning in a very assured performance that should ensure his career continues long after the other eighties action heroes have faded away. Then of course there is Cruise, he's good but the character of David intertwined with the persona of Cruise has a sniff of being pretentious. Maybe it's because I'm still affected by the love-fest that was MI:2, both films seem to have one goal and that's to show that Cruise re
ally does have great hair and teeth.

Crowe's direction is very good. If there's one thing he does best, it's knowing what sort of music to use in a film. His soundtrack's are always excellent and really highlight a scene and make it something memorable. The opening of the film shows a deserted Times Square, something made more creepy by the sound of Radiohead echoing through the air. There were moments in the film where I picked up on the small moments, a record being played backwards. Wether this has any meaning in the grand scheme of Vanilla Sky I don't know, I'm sure it does but another viewing is necessary to find out.

And that's why I really don't know what to say. I'm sure this film is a work of genius in some ways. I'm compelled to watch it again but I don't know why. There are things that I don't like in the film but I don't know why. The conclusion of the film is excellent but then again it's not as I've seen the same trick pulled in other films before. I just don't know but at the moment, Vanilla Sky is a film that I thought was okay, possibly brilliant. I'm sure my opinion will change once I've seen it again.

If Crowe set out to completely screw with my mind then he has succeeded in the best possible way.

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