"Vanilla Sky" (2002)

Rating:  R:15

Genre:  Drama, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: Cameron Crowe

Written By: Alejandro Amenábar, Mateo Gil, Cameron Crowe

Released: January 25^th, 2002

Runtime: 136 minutes

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Summary:

Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe reunite after "Jerry Maguire" for "Vanilla Sky," the story of a young New York City publishing magnate who finds himself on an unexpected roller-coaster ride of romance, comedy, suspicion, love, sex and dreams in a mind-bending search for his soul.

Review:

I’m not quite sure what my opinion of this one is. I think the thing that attracted me most towards watching it was the name. I like the name, it sounds poetic. I think the whole premise sounds better on paper than how it was brought to the screen. I like the whole lucid dream idea but I feel that the whole film was much too long for what it was and also too slowly paced. 

While I like Tom Cruise as an actor usually, this wouldn’t be a favourite of his. His character is kind of hard to like even after this horrible thing has happened to him. You feel sorry for him but it doesn’t stick because he’s a bit of a narcissist. I don’t think the rest of the film made up for his unlikability.

There’s a lot of genres thrown in here from romance to drama to fantasy to a little bit of thriller. Again, this sounds good on paper but it didn’t quite turn out the way I’m guessing it should have for all the reasons I mentioned previously. They even mention it’s supposed to have comedic elements but I didn’t experience any moment I felt like laughing.

One bit that stood out to me was towards the end there is a series of images that flash on the screen; old videos and images and other cultural elements and I really liked how this was done. Actually even though I didn't enjoy the movie as a whole, I did find the ending somewhat thought provoking. I won't say too much for those who haven't seen the film and don't want it spoiled, but the whole dream-within-a-dream idea comes into play. Did he really wake up? 

I was expecting to enjoy this more than I did. I think there are people out there would disagree but it just didn’t grab me.  

TRAILER: