Vanilla Sky (2001)

"Vanilla Sky" (2001) is proof that some of the best movies are those that make us think. It is an unconventional tour-DE-force that plays with our minds as well as the mind of its protagonist. The film is based on the Spanish film "Abre Los Ojos" ("Open Your Eyes," 1997), which is also the basis of many complaints about "Vanilla Sky" which state snottily that "the original was *much* better." I confess that I have not seen "Abre Los Ojos," but I doubt that even the original could diminish my appreciation of such a well-made film as "Vanilla Sky."

The protagonist I speak of is David (Tom Cruise), a rich 33-year-old from New York. The film opens with the spectacular scene in which David is running down an empty Times Square (not a soundstage; it's *really* Times Square). I can't say anymore about the scene without spoiling one of the film's many surprises, so I'll just move on. Soon we meet Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz), David's lover (she is given a funny nickname which I'd rather not print here). David doesn't like Julie very much, but he likes sleeping with her. However, she has feelings for him that go much father, even bordering on obsessive delusion. David drops some hints--some subtle, some not-so-subtle--that he's not interested in entering a serious relationship with her (he doesn't even invite her to his birthday party). This, of course, just makes her crazier.

Back to the party: this is where David meets Sophia Serrano (Penelope Cruz). She shows up as the date of David's best friend Brian, played by the great character actor Jason Lee. However, she is immediately more interested in David than she ever was in Brian. David likes her, too, and after the party goes back to her apartment and talks with her until the following morning. Immediately after leaving Sophia's apartment, he runs into Julie, who offers him a ride home. This turns out to be a mistake when Julie, unhappy with David for obvious reasons, runs the car off an overpass.

David's face is left horribly scarred by the incident, and he begins wearing a facial prosthetic. Eventually, he even ends up being questioned by a psychologist (Kurt Russell) about a murder which he is said to have committed. David doesn't remember a thing because he's been in a coma. Or so he thinks.

This is where the film begins to play with our minds. Things become unclear, events don't make sense. That is, until the ending (which I will not reveal under any circumstances). And here is one of the great movie endings of all time, one which explains everything that didn't make sense to us as we were viewing it. Few (and I mean *very* few) people will be able to fully understand the film with a single viewing. I saw it twice, and I think I get it now. I still had to think about it afterwards, but that's one of the great things about it. When so many movies are so straightforward and obvious, leaving the mind of the viewer after a single viewing, "Vanilla Sky" stayed with me, and made me ask myself questions.

"Vanilla Sky" is undeniably different from any other Cameron Crowe film, but one thing that is still there is the music. The soundtrack is composed of great rock music from Radiohead to the Monkees. Most scenes include music that reflects the mood of the scene itself (there is some interesting use of "Porpoise Song" by the Monkees here). There is also a scene in the film that deliberately mimics the cover of Bob Dylan's "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album.

"Vanilla Sky," I think, has earned its place with "Pulp Fiction" and "The Usual Suspects," and, more recently, "Mullholland Drive" and "Memento" as being on of the great puzzles in film history. All these films toy with our perception of events as they are happening, and all of them consistently surprise us. "Vanilla Sky" is a mystery within itself, set to a smart and funny screenplay with some wonderful acting, direction, and photography. "Vanilla Sky" is the essence of great filmmaking.

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