Vanilla Sky (2001)

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writers (WGA):

Alejandro Amenábar (film "Abre Los Ojos") and
Mateo Gil (film "Abre Los Ojos") ...

Release Date:

14 December 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

What is happiness to you?

Plot:

A successful publisher finds his life taking a turn for the surreal after a car accident with a jaded lover.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Ambiguous Ending | Skyscraper | Amnesia | No Opening Credits

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	David Aames
Penélope Cruz	...	Sofia Serrano
Cameron Diaz	...	Julie Gianni
Kurt Russell	...	McCabe
Jason Lee	...	Brian Shelby
Noah Taylor	...	Edmund Ventura
Timothy Spall	...	Thomas Tipp
Tilda Swinton	...	Rebecca Dearborn
Michael Shannon	...	Aaron
Delaina Mitchell	...	David's Assistant
Shalom Harlow	...	Colleen
Oona Hart	...	Lynette
Ivana Milicevic	...	Emma
Johnny Galecki	...	Peter Brown
Jhaemi Willens	...	Jamie Berliner

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and strong language.

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (video rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

108th-96th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In David's bedroom, there is a poster for Jules et Jim (1962), a French movie in which the climactic scene involves the female star driving a car with her and her lover off a bridge. Other connections to Jules et Jim (1962) in Vanilla Sky (2001) include the brief freeze-frames interspersed in the love scene between Penélope Cruz and Tom Cruise (a technique made famous by François Truffaut's direction of Jules et Jim (1962)) and the fact that the plot centers around two men in love with the same woman. David also has a poster for À bout de souffle (1960), for which Truffaut wrote the story.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When David and Brian are almost hit by the Mack truck, we can clearly see the camera and camera operator (wearing a hat) in David's side window.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sofía: [in Spanish] Open your eyes.
Sofía: [in English] Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Open you...
[David wakes up and pushes the snooze button on his alarm]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Banger Sisters (2002)

Soundtrack:

Everything In Its Right Place

Engaging psychological tale

Recently the BBC in UK held a poll for worst film ever, and while Titanic *won*, this came 4th. I just don't understand how anyone can dislike this movie...

Vanilla Sky is a dark psychological drama about dreams, reality and 'what might have been'.

Tom Cruise is Dave, a yuppie who has it all. He has a 51% stake in his father's company, therefore the majority shareholder, and constantly finds himself in a battle to main his control over the '7 dwarves' who make up the rest of the board. His personal life is a mess, with a shallow relationship with Julie (Cameron Diaz) the closest he gets to love, while his best friend Brian (Jason Lee) who adores Julie sticks by him regardless.

However, on holding a birthday party he's introduced to Sofia (The perfect Penelope Cruz) and falls instantly for her.

This is all very well but the plot is parallel to a side story of Dave wearing a white mask in a cell with Dr McCabe (Kurt Russell) who's accusing him of murder and wants to understand why it happened.

Dave begins on a journey to make sense of his life.

I admit there is a 'Hollywoody' feel to this film, and given it's a remake of a Mexican/Spanish original also featuring Penelope Cruz it's probably disappointing to purists. But only viewing this on its own terms I absolutely love this movie. It keeps you guessing, and the ending is very conclusive.

It may not be to everyone's taste, but I loved it.