Vanilla Sky (2001)

[Kim Welch]

Vanilla Sky (2001)


Tom Cruise .... David Aames
Penélope Cruz .... Sofia Serrano
Cameron Diaz .... Julianna 'Julie' Gianni
Kurt Russell .... Dr. Curtis McCabe


This could spoil the movie for someone who has not watched it already.


I like the oldies sound track that kicks in these confusing juxtaposed moments. I love the dark street scene after he gets up off the street the night at the bar. Also, referred to in the movie as the splice. I like science fiction and I like the idea of being able to be frozen and fixed of some ailment 200 hundred years in the future.

I didn't like the inconsistency of his face. In the photo pictures you see of David at the end with the Tech support guy it is apparent the editors took liberties and made his face look more damaged. I also noticed some inconsistency in the facial damage in scenes. I guess the script manager or make up or special effects missed something. In One scene we see a shot of his mouth that has scars and damage that looks different or worse than in another. You can see that there is definitely a look of bone structure damage differences in the photos when the tech support flash back scene segment is shown at the end. It is when David is flashed back to his funneral.

I would like a little more connect the dots with the Idea of sub conscience break down in David that caused his dream to become a nightmare. but, I guess I am supposed to use my understanding of the working of the human mind and my imagination for that.

I liked the movie enough to want to see the end.

Kim

 

[Shoyish]

I couldn't really tell you why, but I like this movie a great deal. There is something about DVD's, they personalize movies in an interesting way. I know it's basically not a very good movie (I think it's probably Cameron Crowe's fantasy of what he wishes his life was), but for some reason I used to put this movie on every night. It was just comforting for me to have this movie on in the background as I checked my e-mail or went to sleep. The movie is really layered, like a Wes Anderson movie, like there are hundreds of little details that make it real and personalize it for you. There is some really beautiful stuff in this movie, even if overall it's a bit cheesy. The way it incorporates Pop culture into it is fascinating too. Cameron Crowe refers to this as his "cover" of "Abre Los Ojos". I just think that's a really cool idea, covering someone else's movie. I think it's meant to be a fun sort of psychedelic popcorn movie, but it just doesn't quite work. The ending doesn't come off right, the magic just isn't there. Which is a shame because there are all kinds of worthwhile little details and moments in this movie. Cameron Crowe, what can I say? I'm ashamed to like this guy. He writes these lines that are very obviously meant to be pop culture phenomena ("Show me the money"), which makes me sick, but there is something cool about hanging out with his movies.

 

[EOIN]

I think the strange thing about this film is that I've seen the same idea before in less regarded films. In much the same way that he was faced with a desicion to kill himself in order to wake up in an episode of star trek voyager the doctor was forced to decide wether or not to destroy the ship and prove that his life is one great big simulation. Further back still is the arnie movie Total Recall which pretty much deal with the exact same idea. And I bet someone out there knows of some book from years ago that has some guy that faces a similar dilemma.

Also if any of you watch lost you'll have seen this exact same idea there too in the Hurley episode from season 2