Rating: 
Summary: The worst film of 2001
Review: Let's keep it simple folks. Cameron Crowe in no way has the talent to pull off this kind of film.I was not the only one in the theater laughing uncontrollably at Cruise's performance. He was dreadful!
Penelope Cruz used sudden leaping whenever she was forced to show an emotion on screen. What was the film all about? I truly don't care...I will not invest any more of my time on this movie. 2 and a half hours was enough...way more than enough! If Cruise gets a nomination, the Academy will not be taken seriously for a long time to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, confusing, but Amazing
Review: Vanilla Sky is a film that you simply must see twice. While, what you've heard is true...Tom Cruise's character David Aames is shallow and hard to sympathize with at first, the ending is twisted and hardly serves to give the film closure, and the plot is by no means linear...the film steps in front of these problems with incredible writing, characterization, and beautifully moral inspiration. The wonderful things about Vanilla Sky are literary, not traditionally entertaining, which is why many people have a problem with it. The film is well acted by both both Cruz and Diaz, but the best performance is given by the leading man, Tom Cruise. Cruise plays David Aames, a super-rich egoist who has everything, or at least it so appears. Aames plays the field of beautiful women surrounding him until he discovers Sofia Serrano, an innocent and inspiring beauty. However, after an eye-opening first night with the girl of his dreams, David makes a tiny mistake, one that almost costs him his life and takes from him his good looks- just to start with. As his world spins, David struggles to find the love of Sofia and reality and dreams become hard to distiguish. From there the film unfolds into a mysterious amalgam of twists with an ending beyond strange. The film is suspenseful as well as confusing, but seemingly shallow or unconvincing, and leaves much to be desired AT FIRST... however, upon a second viewing and some comtemplation, the observer sees a revealing and deep script, full of hidden psychology and complex characters, along with effective directing and dialogue. Vanilla Sky is brilliantlly directed and polished, and while intensely emotional, thought provoking beyond description. Expect literature, not Jerry McGuire. Be patient and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie should only be watched by people with a brain
Review: (...) The movie makes you think and I think, rewards you for your efforts in the end. If you pay attention its not difficult to follow. But i guess thats why the average movie is around 100 minutes, because too many people have no attention span. (...) Also..for those of you who think you can criticize every acting performance ever, realize that Carrot Top is not in this movie. I don't see how anybody can say Tom Cruise or Penelope Cruz cannot act. They definately shared a dynamic onscreen and it made the movie. You'll feel for the characters...really. And Cameron Crowe should be applauded for defying convention instead of making Jerry Maguire 2.
Rating:
Summary: WHAT SMELLS?
Review: I'm giving this movie one star (only because there wasn't a choice of "zero" stars. This movie just plain "stinks". Tom Cruise used his star power to get people to see this movie (I'm a victim) and let me down big time. What was he thinking? I thought Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut were strange - they don't even come close to this one. My watch battery died because I hit the light so many times to see if the two hours were up yet. Yes, I could have walked out, but I was hoping beyond all hope that something redeeming would happen and make me feel better about spending money to see this pile of crap. Come on Tom, you can do better than this.
Rating: 
Summary: Lucid Dreams
Review: Unfortunately for Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky" there is Alejandro Amenabar's Spanish version of this film, "Abre Los Ojos" rising on the horizon like a phoenix redolent of mystery and magic.....traits that you unfortunately cannot attribute to Crowe's film.
Up to this point in his career, Cameron Crowe has indeed made some screen magic: think the "You had me from Hello" speech from Jerry Macquire or anything involving the luminous Kate Hudson in "Almost Famous." But both JM and AF are straight forward love stories with comic overtones. "Vanilla Sky" is another kettle of fish entirely: cryogenics, personality transfer, psychosis, magic and the redemptive powers of love are some of the themes/subjects tackled. And as talented as Crowe may be now, he is not able to develop these subjects into a cohesive whole presently, based on the evidence in "Vanilla Sky."
I think a very important point here is that Amenabar is a Spaniard and as such comes from a society in which magic, the mystical, the other worldly are things he encountered on a daily basis. Note his take on "The Others," which is frightening in a very specific and everyday way so much so that the ending comes as a genuine surprise. He was able to make the mystical seem natural; warm and cuddly almost.
Overall, the women have the edge, acting-wise in "Vanilla Sky" with Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz operating at a very high level. Diaz is frighteningly good as an obsessed woman who is stalking the Cruise character, David Aames.
Unfortunately the character of David Aames is just outside of Tom Cruise's acting range especially in the hyper-emotive realm in which he needs to operate. As the lynchpin of this film, Cruise must be 100% believable at all times, particularly in the more fantastical portions, or the film sags in the middle...he isn't and it throws the film off kilter. In Cruise's favor, no one can act coherently or persuasively in a full mask; which Cruise must do in portions of this film...some of the scenes eerily similar to parts of "Eyes Wide Shut."
"Vanilla Sky" is certainly interesting at times and emminently watchable throughout. But I wonder: how would David Fincher have handled this film and how would Brad Pitt have played David Aames?
Rating: 
Summary: Just a bad movie......
Review: The plot in this movie is horrible, At times you think it is a dream, and at times it seems real. The problem is that you can't tell the difference and nothing is ever cleared up. The movie is slow moving and doesn't make any sense at all. Most people who see this movie will be disappointed. When you think of Cameron Crowe, you would expect a good movie, at least the caliber of Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. There are a lot of good actors in this movie, but Crowe could not get it all together to create a decent plotline. This movie is one you wait until it gets to HBO and then watch it....I would not pay to see it at the movies again or rent it. But if you have free time and it appears on HBO, it is not a complete waste of your time.... D+
Rating:
Summary: Must See
Review: It's a great remake of the original Open Your Eyes so if you don't like that movie or it's plot then you won't like this. Cameron Diaz gives her best performance to date. Tom Cruise continues to take chances in the roles he picks, and he scores with this one. If you liked him in Eyes Wide Shut, then you will not be disappointed. The chemistry between he and Penelope Cruz is very believable and heart breaking at times. I plan to see it again before it leaves the theatres.
Rating:
Summary: and a 1/2 Stars
Review: There's a LOT going on in this film, and most of it is pretty well done. It can be somewhat confusing at times, but all in all I enjoyed it. (If you like neatly-packaged, non-confusing movies, don't see this one, though!) Rather than giving away plot details and ruining some of the surprises, (Is it all a dream? Has he lost his mind? Is there a conspiracy? Was there a murder?), I'll just focus on the performances. Tom Cruise plays, well... Tom Cruise. It's not too much of a stretch for him to play a young, promiscuous rich kid who inherits 51% (controlling interest) in his father's publishing empire. I WAS impressed that he took on a role that required him to appear grossly disfigured. Additional kudos to the makeup artists for not going thoroughly overboard. His injuries looked convincing, not ridiculous. Cameron Diaz strays from her typical sexy role here. She plays psycho-scary extraordinarily well, I thought. Made Glenn Close's "Fatal Attraction" character seem kind of sweet and endearing by comparison! If my wife ever lets me go to lunch with the lovely Ms. Diaz, I'M DRIVING! ;-) Penelope Cruz was faulted in one review for having a less-than-perfect command of the English language. And an accent. Yeah? So? I thought her character was sweet, sympathetic, and if anything, I kind of felt that the fact she's foreign added a bit of mystery to her character. One scene very early in the film intrigued me. Tom Cruise's character is seen running in New York's Time Square district, which is COMPLETELY void of people, cars, buses, cabs... everything. The shots are long, and as far as the eye can see (even when looking down other streets), there's NOTHING. I'm stumped. How the heck did they do that? Digitally remove everything? Clear out every living being in a square mile area of NYC? I don't know. But I was amazed.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful, unique, moving...
Review: While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, they are difficult to understand sometimes. Why did Cruise not punch her in the face to stop her from driving into a tree? Who knows? If someone is not in that situation it is insane to even hazard a guess at what is the proper reaction. Either way, it is another masterful film from Cameron Crowe (of Almost Famous) who proves why he is one of the best working directors today. His weaving of dialogue, music and scenes acted with body language alone are something many others should pay close attention to. It may be a little much for some people as it is difficult to know what to expect from this one. Even after leaving the theater it will take a little while to digest it and ultimately it will mean something different from person to person.
Rating:
Summary: Off the Wall
Review: This movie was just off the wall bazzare! It looks like it would be a normal movie but not at all. You walk away from this movie not knowing what the hell to think. This was the most twisted movie I have ever seen and my friends and I are still wondering what to think about it. If you want to see a confusing, weird, leave you wondering movie then go ahead and see it but it was just too strange.
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