Vanilla
Sky
is one of the most challenging films of the year. It is thought
provoking, mysterious, complex, nerve racking, beautiful,
creepy, funny and a trip deliriously all its own. More so, after
what has been released by major studios throughout this year,
the fact that a film as bizarre in nature and grand in scope and
design could come out of one of them is pleasantly exhilarating
surprise.
Credit
for that probably rests more on the shoulders of Tom Cruise than
on anyone else’s. Say what you will about the mega-star, and
much could be said about him indeed, he at least has not been
averse to taking risks throughout his career. Balancing
commercial trash (such as the Mission: Impossible
franchise) with much more avant-garde fair (Kubrick’s Eyes
Wide Shut; P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia) he is maybe
the only star in Hollywood who could convince a formula bound
studio such as Paramount Pictures to fund an $80 million dollar
esoteric thriller.
Better
yet, he turned the reigns of said thriller over to Cameron
Crowe, a filmmaker not exactly known hallucinatory storytelling.
With brilliantly humorous and highly personal dramas like Almost
Famous (2000’s best film) and Say Anything on
his resume, a thriller dealing with sex, identity, memory and
compulsion is not exactly the first thing you think would be up
his alley. Yet when all is said and done, Vanilla Sky
sits solidly as one of the year’s best films.
A
remake of Alejandro Amenábar’s 1997 Spanish thriller Abre
los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), Cruise is magazine mogul
David Aames. Seemingly drifting through his own life, he’s
cocksure and carefree. His best friend Brian (Jason Lee)
chastises him for his egotism secretly envying his lifestyle and
that he is sleeping with the beautiful Julie Gianni (Cameron
Diaz). Using her much like a sex doll, she’s only around to be
an extension of his narcissistic ego, a role the voluptuous
vixen has no problem filling.
Enter
Sofia Serrano (Penélope Cruz reprising her role from the
Spanish original). During a chance meeting at Aames’ birthday
party, the pair creates fiery sparks that lead David to examine
his life his previously selfish existence. But when Julie
emerges from the shadows to force David to examine their
relationship more precipitously, tragedy rears its head and the
mogul’s existence is irrevocably shattered.
Or
is it? Where does reality begin and his dream life end? Are they
connected? It’s a giant Twilight Zone-like nightmare
and David is caught in the middle of its labyrinthine
mechanizations.
At
nearly 160 minutes, Vanilla Sky can be a long haul. Yet,
Crowe fills the screen with motion, movement and poetry that is
a wonder to behold. The movie feels like a lush dreamscape of a
universe in constant transition, constantly tightening its grip
upon the protagonist.
Everything
about the film is first rate. John Toll’s cinematography is
excellent and Catherine Hardwickes’s production design is
continually impressive. Once again Crowe proves to be one of the
few filmmakers who knows how to accentuate a scene with musical
accompaniment, not let the music tell the story for him. The
acting is good all around with Lee and Kurt Russell – as a
fatherly shrink – being particular standouts.
It’s
Cruise’s movie, however, and this may be the best work of his
career. Not only does the star comment on his public persona
(with a joke about his constantly obsessed sexuality made at his
expense), his fall from grace into near madness is incredible.
Say what you will about Cruise in his role as a movie star and
on the world stage, but don’t shortchange him for not being
willing to take major risks as an actor. This is a gutsy, go for
broke, multi-layered performance and it galvanizes the movie.
My
gut feeling is that Vanilla Sky is not going to score at
the box office. It’s not what most fans of the movie star
expect their idol to be doing and in this year of supremely bad
brain numbing but popular swill (i.e. The
Mummy Returns,
Tomb Raider),
a film with a brain as sharp as this one may not stand a chance
with a mass audience. But discriminating fans should line up
now.Like A.I.,
Moulin Rouge and Memento,
Vanilla Sky is a polarizing torpedo of a film that takes
genuine risks and walks that fine line of splitting film fans
into "love it/hate it" groups. I’ll take that over another
Pearl Harbor
monstrosity any day.
