Rating: 
Summary: OK...
Review: I hadn't seen any previews for this movie. I had checked out the webpage and I figured since Tom and Penelope were in it, it was going to be a romance movie. Wrong!While this movie was not at all what I expected, for what it was, I suppose it was good. Romance...try thriller/sci-fi. I was quite confused throughout the entire movie. I thoguht I had the plot figured out, but right when I did, things changed drastically. If you are looking for a relaxed evening, this is not the movie for you. It will keep you on your toes and waiting for an explantation. However, if you are the inquisitive type, definitely check it out!
Rating:
Summary: one phrase.."life is but a dream"
Review: Everyone I saw this movie with, disliked it. It was a little confusing, I recommend seeing it twice. If you're into psychological themes like I am or dare to watch movies twisting out of the norm see this. A remake of the film "Abre los Ojos" this movie was extremely well done. Cruise, Cruz, and Diaz do an amazing job portraying each of their characters and fit the roles perfectly. This was the most surreal movie experience I can remember. I was in pure awe the entire duration of this film. I loved the acting, the plot, the setting, EVERYTHING! Being set in NYC brought back a feeling of nostalgia for me, especially the last scene.
Rating: 
Summary: Vanilla Sky Does not live up to expectations
Review: 1st problem: The main character is a jerk. He is rich, goodlooking, and an heir to a publishing empire. He uses these gifts to exploit everything around him. The whole romance is about him ditching a girl he's been using in favor of his best friend's girlfriend. The dumped girl becomes enraged and wrecks the car with them both in it. He gets disfigured and, drum roll please, he still tries to be the same jerk he was when he was good looking. No souls searching or shift in character caused by his fall from social grace, just relentless attempts at getting his old stud-boy-jerk tricks to still work for him. For a movie like this to work, you have to empathize with the main character and want him to triumph over his enemies. Even if he starts out as a jerk, there need to be some sort of shift that makes you care about the character. That's what gives the audience the nervous tension during his struggles, as they squirm in their seat hoping to pull him on. None of that here. You sit there bored, watching Tom make his battles, not really caring if he wins or not. 2nd Problem: There are a lot of "has the whole world gone crazy or is it just me?" movies, and when they are done right, are great entertainment. Matrix and Total Recall are two of the most notable examples. For this type of plot to work, the explanation has to be interesting and convincing. It needs to come well before the end of the movie so that the hero and the audience can have a chance to react to it. Also, the first part of the movie has to interesting enough in it's own right to keep the audience entertained prior to the great revelation. Vanilla Sky does neither. We get a cheesy explanation that is dumped in our lap at the very end of a dismal show. Not only that, but the answer is so cheap and easy that Obi-wan sayin "A certain point of view" pales by comparison. I won't give it away here, except that to say that it wouldn't be giving away much. It is disappointing, almost insultingly trite ending to a long dreary movie. Sadly, it could have been so much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Vanilla Sky pales in comparison to the original
Review: If you hadn't seen the Spanish version Open Your Eyes helmed by Alejandro Amenabar, you wouldn't have realized that Vanilla Sky juxtaposed to its original pales in comparison. A psychosexual thriller starring producer Tom Cruise as the profligate hedonist David Aames, it tells of his encounter with Sofia (played by Penelope Cruz) on his 33rd birthday who is his best friend's (Jason Lee)date. There is blossoming romance with the dancer but before love can progress, revenge proceeds when Julie (Cameron Diaz) his one-time past affair, catches up with him to take him on a suicidal trip in a car that left him disfigured... Without revealing the plot twists, the movie drones on with Sofia morphing into Julie, then back and forth; an investigation in which Cruise becomes the murderer where Kurt Rusell is the psychologist in-charge. The realm of subliminal and reality becomes utterly confusing - right up to the ending. The abrupt ending explains the hero's quandry with death, guilt leaving the mystery unbelievably solved. Yet what makes Vanilla Sky such a poor remake is the unnecessary embellishment Director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) has given. A tease of pop-culture, Monet's Vanilla Sky painting, a soundtrack featuring Radiohead and Beatles distracts us from the story without enhancing it. What could have been a great mystery with its dark implications on vanity, rage and desires has been bleached by Crowe's additional intrusion including a cameo by Steven Spielberg without any novelty or clever interpretations. It is a scene-by-scene, note-by-note reproduction of the original only being manifested in a contemporary scene. The only saving grace is the choice of Cruise as the egoistic hero with his classic good looks scarred, mirrors the ugly narcissism and vanity in human. He is suitably confused and in angst, capturing nuanced emotions as the flawed protaganist. Sofia played by Cruz is diluted and her cutesy, fluffy appearance is ruined by her jarring English. Cameron Diaz, despite being in fewer scenes, portrays Julie with an obsession that sparkles with seething evil, outrage and misery. Hells know no fury like a woman scorned. And no less furious is the audience who has been led on a wild goose chase, absorbing all the juggernaut realities of life in friendship, love and sex, throwing the mystery to the wind and closing your eyes. It would be a prudent choice to watch the original if you want to recap the story.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste
Review: A fine cast is utterly squandered on one of the most poorly-written scripts in recent memory. The ideas themselves are provocative and interesting, but the writing sounds like a bunch of fortune cookies glued together. The number of platitudes and cringe-worthy lines is best expressed in scientific notation. Imagine Deepak Chopra trying to write like T. S. Eliot. "Abre los ojos" is the 1997 Spanish film on which "Vanilla Sky" was based -- very loosely, one hopes. It also starred Penelope Cruz and surely had to be better than this mess.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing.
Review: Let me say first off that I loved this movie. It did everything a good movie does. It amazed me, it shocked me, it made me think, it disturbed me and it drifted me away from my own reality. I came into it not really having a clue what it was about or what to think. Sure, in a way I thought it would be romantic and dramatic, like some sappy Tom Cruise movies. But I was wrong. It embodied romance, suspense, drama and even science fiction. I usually get antsy during movies, but during Vanilla Sky, I couldn't take my eyes or mind off of the story. It was intriguing, yet twisted. But there was a certain charm about it, a charm I can't describe, as with most Cameron Crowe films. Tom Cruise blew me away with his ability to make you believe you were right there with David Aames, living his dreams and his reality, but not being able to tell the two apart. Vanilla Sky was a great movie and I plan to see it again.
Rating:
Summary: Abre Los Ojos
Review: I didn't have a chance to look through all of the reviews, but I noticed, in the ones I did read, that no one gave any credit (or even mentioned) the far-superior original film "Vanilla Sky" was based on, "Abre Los Ojos [Open Your Eyes]." I've loved the film since I saw it on video two years or so ago, and when I heard Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe planned to remake it, I knew I could smell trouble. In many respects "Vanilla Sky" is a lot like Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" remake. It takes a film that was already good to begin with and remakes it, in order to appeal to a different audience (here, American audiences afraid of [gasp] subtitles; there, American audiences afraid of [gulp] old black-and-white films). It's nearly a shot-for-shot remake, using the same flashback technique used in "Abre Los Ojos," a film that could have easily been told in several different ways. Credit cannot be given to Mr. Crowe for his surreal ideas here, because all of them were thought up by Alejandro Amenabar (director of "The Others," my apologies for not putting the appropriate accent marks in place). It's the same story with inferior characters. "Vanilla Sky," unlike "Ojos," will not go down in history as a classic, by any means, mostly because of the ridiculous pop culture references (most of which might even be forgotten by its video release). It felt like more of a failed love letter from Tom Cruise to a much cooler audience, who surely puked during even the trailer of "Jerry Maguire" or "Mission: Impossible." Cruise name-drops like crazy, and the soundtrack includes some interesting (and obviously, out-of-place) music, ranging from Radiohead to Jeff Buckley to Spiritualized to a video clip of the music video for "Big Time Sensuality" by Bjork. Sorry, Tom, Cameron, it didn't work. And, finally, the cast and characters of "Vanilla Sky" sink it to the treaches of "Mission: Impossible 2." Cruise lacks the range and sensibility Eduardo Noriega (now starring in the Spanish thriller "The Devil's Backbone") possessed. Cameron Diaz, while not totally bad, lacks the undeniable sexuality, eroticisim, and down-right creepiness Najwa Nimri showed as Nuria (or, Julie in "Sky"). Penelope Cruz could have only chosen to play the same role because all of her other American film attempts have failed to gain either critical praise or audience reception. And Kurt Russell is ridiculous here, while Chete Lera broke my heart in the final sequence of "Abre Los Ojos." I don't think I was the only one who noticed that Cruise and Jason Lee (as, surprise, the pathetic best friend) played the characters they do best--themselves. "Vanilla Sky" was a far-reach when it was green-lighted, so it came as no surprise that it failed at being a clever remake to a brilliant original.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: This is one of the worst movies that I have ever seen in my life! I can't believe that I paid money to see it! The plot was really weird and convoluted, and it was almost impossible to distinguish the dream sequences from reality in this movie. Don't waste your money! It's not even worth renting when it comes out on video/DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Can It Be Any Worse?
Review: The answer is no, it couldn't. Vanilla Sky is without a doubt the worse movie I have seen this year. I cannot believe I wasted 10 bucks to see this garbage. First of all, this movie makes no sense, start to finish. When the movie is over you walk out of the theater wondering if you just watched a movie, cuz you're not sure. The plot of this movie is just plain ridiculous. And just when you think everything will be explained at the end of the film, it just gets more confusing. Don't get me wrong, Tom Cruise does a good job acting in this movie (hence, the one star) but the rest of the cast was lifeless and with good reason. This movie is terrible. A lot of people may consider this film "artsy" but I think it just couldn't be more stupid. Do yourself a favor and pick something else when you hit the theaters anytime soon. If you go see this movie you will regret it. I promise.
Rating:
Summary: See The Original
Review: I saw this film because I saw Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) first. The original gets 5 stars from me, but this one only gets four because they take out the "you must see it twice to understand it" part of it. In the original the mind puzzle is spread through out the film. In this one they explained everything in the elevator scene. What amazes me is the many people that still don't understand it. See the original first then see this one it still is good.
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