Keep 'em peeled (Vanilla Sky (DVD))

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	Vanilla Sky (DVD)
Date:	30/01/02 (399 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting, Memorable cinematography, Fantastic soundtrack (and the use of it)

Disadvantages: Pacing toward the end, Inadequate assessment of the audience's intelligence, The ultimate conclusion

You know, I don't like director Cameron Crowe... and if you didn't, you do now. It's difficult to put my finger on exactly why, but I think it's the fact that he attaches an unhealthy degree of wholesome sentimental Americana to everything he touches.

I liked the idea of 'Jerry Maguire', but rapidly found myself struggling to endure the sickening soppiness that the film unrelentingly threw at me. I really liked 'Almost Famous' right up until the cloyingly sentimental ending.

So, on the face of it, you're probably wondering why I went to see 'Vanilla Sky', Crowe's latest movie, reuniting him with Tom Cruise. Well, the main reason was that it was very enthusiastically recommended to me by a friend who works at Total Film, whose exact words were "the American critics are wrong, and stupid... and wrong again". I can't say I always agree with him, but it's rare for him to gush with praise for a film, so that sold me on the idea.

My overall impression isn't quite so positive. I was impressed that Crowe managed to avoid quite so much nauseating sentimentality, but disappointed by a couple of aspects of the plot, which I'll address later in this opinion.

THE PLOT

Adapted from the 1997 Spanish film 'Abre Los Ojos', 'Vanilla Sky' follows the life of a New York magazine publisher, David Aames (Tom Cruise), told in retrospect to his psychiatrist (Kurt Russell) as he sits in jail wearing a prosthetic mask.

As the film starts, Aames is regularly sleeping with "just a friend", Julie (Cameron Diaz). When he meets, and is immediately struck by, the beautiful Sofia (Penelope Cruz), Julie becomes jealous, and it soon becomes clear that she sees herself as more than just a friend. When Aames spends a night chatting to Sofia in her apartment, he leaves to find Julie waiting for him outside. Julie convinces him to get into her car, and
as she drives off, she confronts him about their relationship. When she realises that he never took their relationship seriously, she crashes the car in an attempt to kill them both.

Aames survives the crash, but his face is horrifically disfigured, he loses the use of his right arm, and is left with a limp. But what happened between the car crash and his arrest? Did he kill someone? If so, who?

THE FILM

Mention New York City to someone and it's likely that they'll think of the films that have been set there - perhaps the final scenes of 'Sleepless in Seattle' atop the Empire State Building', or the ghosts flying over Manhattan in 'Ghostbusters'. Maybe they'll think of Woody Allen beside the Brooklyn Bridge in 'Manhattan' or Audrey Hepburn peering into Tiffany's before it opens.

The image of Tom Cruise running through a deserted Times Square from 'Vanilla Sky' will surely take its place alongside these.

Yes, if there's one thing that 'Vanilla Sky' excels at, it's its depiction of New York City. From the opening shots looking down on the city from above, through to the filthy streets of Hell's Kitchen, the city has seldom looked so good. There's a truly beautiful scene with Cruise and Cruz in an autumnal Central Park, creating a sense of romance to the location that few visitors are likely to actually experience.

But this isn't the only good aspect of the film. The actors performances are really first rate. We had a chance to see what Cruise is capable of in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Magnolia', and in Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut', but here he really does put in an outstanding performance. Both as the feckless, womanising Aames before the car crash, and the desperate, lonely Aames post-crash, Cruise is very believable, and as the plot twists and contorts toward the end, he reacts well to the course that the film take
s.

Penelope Cruz is also superb as the beautiful, coquettish Sofia - unsurprising really, given that she played the same role in the original Spanish film 'Abre Los Ojos'. Throughout the film, she puts in an excellent performance, and her real life relationship with Cruise may well have enhanced its believability. And yes, in case you're wondering, you do get to see nipple.

Cameron Diaz is very good as the obsessive Julie, sending Aames on a remarkably convincing guilt trip before attempting to kill them both. In fact, between this and 'Being John Malkovich', we can conclude that Diaz is a far better actress than 'The Mask' or 'There's Something About Mary' ever suggested.

Aames's best friend, Brian Shelby, is played by Jason Lee, a familiar face to fans of Kevin Smith's films. Lee's playing his favourite role, that of the amiable guy who dispenses relationship advice to order, and making crude jokes, of course. Kurt Russell produces a strong performance as psychiatrist McCabe - a performance which takes on an additional, impressive dimension as the film reaches its ending.

The script is very strong, with some very memorable lines, such as Sofia referring to Julie as "the saddest girl ever to hold a Martini". In fact, the dialogue between Sofia and Aames the first time they meet, as the two ignore Brian, is very well observed. Also, as I commented earlier, Julie's confrontation with Aames as she drives them away from Sofia's house is remarkably convincing and well-written.

On top of this, the film has a truly outstanding soundtrack, incorporating tracks by R.E.M. ('Sweetness Follows'), Leftfield ('Afrika Shox') and Sigur Ros ('Svefn-G-Englar'), as well as opening with the haunting 'Everything In Its Right Place' by Radiohead. Where Crowe seems to have raided my father's record collection for 'Almost Famous', h
e's been through mine for 'Vanilla Sky'!

So, there is a lot to recommend the film, for sure. The actors' performances, the direction, the script and even the music are very good. Don't get me wrong, I largely enjoyed the film, but I did have two major problems with it.

Firstly, the extensive plot exposition that the audience is treated to at the end, which goes on far too long, and ham-fistedly forces what might have been (in the hands of a better director) a clever resolution down the viewer's throat.

Inevitably, this is a tricky thing to write about without spoiling the film for someone who hasn't seen it. Suffice it to say that the ending is an ambitious one, and this necessitated some explanation of what had happened for the audience - I just can't help thinking it didn't need the degree of over-explanation that Crowe expends on it. As another dooyooer (TJ-Mackey) commented to me after seeing the film (and before I saw it), the original Spanish film almost certainly doesn't patronise the audience quite so much.

Of course, having said this, I was chatting to one of the usherettes at the local cinema as I was leaving, and she said that she'd overheard quite a few of their patrons commenting that they'll have to see the film a second time, in order to understand what was going on... Perhaps the average Barnet cinemagoer needs a Crowe level of patronisation, and I'm being too harsh. But, for my money, the film's conclusion felt overlaboured and didn't seem to credit the audience with enough intelligence.

*** MINOR SPOILER ***

And secondly, the ending itself was a disappointingly "deus ex machina" one - the clues are there, and there is a chance that a very astute audience member might be able to work out the conclusion. However, the ending struck me as an only slightly cleverer version of "Phew, it was all a dream!" - which seemed s
omething of a disappointment after such a compelling and intriguing story.

*** SPOILER ENDS ***

CONCLUSIONS

'Vanilla Sky' contains a lot of scenes that will stick in the mind for days after watching it - particularly the scenes of Cruise driving through a deserted Manhattan, and running through an empty Times Square. Combine this strong imagery with some superb acting, a strong script, and one of the best-used soundtracks I've heard, and you'd think we'd be heading for an outstandingly good film.

However, for me the film was let down by a disappointing conclusion, and an inadequate assessment of the viewer's intellectual ability by the director. There's no denying that the ending was an ambitious one, but I can't help thinking that it must have been handled more intelligently in the original Spanish version of the film.

It's well worth seeing 'Vanilla Sky', there's a lot to recommend it, but just don't expect the ending to be as good as the rest of the film was.

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