Vanilla Sky (2001)

Vanilla Sky was mocked in 2001 and it doesn’t deserve that. It’s a strange, ambitious film that doesn’t entirely work, and its failures are more interesting than most films’ successes.

Cameron Crowe wrote and directed it, remaking Alejandro Amenábar’s Open Your Eyes from 1997. I give it a 7.

The Premise

David Aames inherited a publishing empire and coasts on charm. He meets a woman at a party, spends a night talking with her, and the next morning a former lover drives him off a bridge. He survives with his face ruined, and from there the film starts coming apart: memories contradict each other, people change identity, and David finds himself accused of a murder he doesn’t remember.

The Opening

He wakes, drives to work and finds Times Square completely empty. Crowe closed it for a few hours on a Sunday morning to shoot it, and it’s one of the most striking images of the decade.

The Cruise Performance

This is one of Cruise’s riskiest roles. He spends much of the film behind a prosthetic mask or a ruined face, playing a man whose entire currency was being handsome. The breakdown scenes are genuinely uncomfortable, and he was mocked for them at the time.

The Cast

Penélope Cruz plays the same role she played in the Spanish original, a strange choice that works. Cameron Diaz is the best thing in the film as the woman David discards, and her line about a body making a promise whether it means to or not is the most quoted in it. Kurt Russell is the psychiatrist, and Jason Lee is the friend who watches it all.

The Problem

The explanation. When it arrives, it’s delivered in a long expository scene on a roof, and no ending could carry the weight the film has built. Open Your Eyes handles the same reveal more economically. The Crowe version is prettier, sadder and clumsier.

Craft Note

Is Vanilla Sky worth watching?

Yes. It’s a 7, an ambitious, uneven film with real images in it. Watch Open Your Eyes too and see which ending you prefer.

Frequently Asked Questions