rev_f_vanillasky

VANILLA SKY
tom cruise / camero diaz / penelopy cruise

as reviewed by Jack Crompton at Amazon.com, March 17, 2008

An unpredictable roller-coaster of the mind...

This film surprised me. I’m not a huge Cruise fan historically, but this one earned him a lot of respect from me. Of course, it helps having a totally original and mind bending story to work with, and Vanilla Sky is all of that.

Vanilla Sky begs to ask the ultimate question: ‘What is Real’? It is a tale with more twists and turns in it than just about anything I’ve seen. Just when you think you got a handle on what’s going on, it goes in a completely new, unpredictable direction, and it does this several time during the course of the film. It’s really expert storytelling that grips you from start to finish.

Cruise plays a carefree, rich, playboy character, born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the sole heir to a publishing empire. He’s used to getting everything he wants and carries that attitude with how he behaves with everyone in this life. All that changes one day when his fate (or karma) deals him an accident that horribly disfigures him permanently. There’s a lot of intense emotions during all of this involving messy relationships with the women in his life (Cameron Diaz plays one very scarey female), and his best friend. The basic hook of the film is that the reality of the matter is never revealed during the course of the story until the very end. And, it’s a shocker! Only then does the film’s chaotic pieces come together. But be warned.... it took me at least 3 viewings to really understand this film. It’s complex, but it gets more rewarding with repeat viewings. It’s brilliant, really, but the first time through is such a shock to the mind one has to revisit it to put the pieces together in the context of the final paradigm.

Thoroughly thought provoking, Vanilla Sky is a highly engaging, very unique and totally unpredictable film. In my opinion, this is surely one of the best and most novel of the last decade.

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