VANILLA SKY

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee, Kurt Russell and Penelope Cruz
Writer/Director: Cameron Crowe
Running Time: 132 mins
Certificate: 15

David Aames (Cruise) has the ideal life. The multi-millionaire owner of an international publishing firm, he lived life to the maximum. The envy pf everyone he could do anything, buy everything and have any woman he wanted. His best friend Brian (Lee) always told him that along with all the 'sweet' in his life, he should add abit of the 'sour' but David's life becomes ever more sweet when he meets Sofia (Cruz), and becomes instantly enchanted by her, much to the anguish of his on-off lover Julie (Diaz).

This movie is a complete change of direction for writer/director Cameron Crowe. Remaking Alejandro Amenabar's (The Others) 1997 Spanish original, Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), he tentatively steps away from his usual character driven single genre narrative into a cornucopia of styles that encompasses romance, murder-mystery, psychological thriller, noir and science fiction.

Both confusing and fascinating, the film takes you on a ride through David's entire emotional range, from pure joy to total despair and does so in an way that beautifully combines visual and audio stimuli into a sensory treat. Clues as to what he is going through are interwoven between what you are seeing on the screen and what you are hearing in the brilliantly selected soundtrack.

The performances are excellent, from Cameron Diaz's bimbo turned green-eyed monster to Penelope Cruz's captivating Sofia, a woman that no-man would have trouble falling in love with, but this is Tom Cruise's movie. Between his more commercial offerings like the Mission Impossible's and the upcoming Minority Report, he likes to get to grips with his a really challenging role, as he did with Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut and these are where he really gets to show what a talent he actually is. This is quite a daring role for Cruise as for most of the movie he wears a mask or hideous facial make-up, taking away his trademark smile and good looks, making him rely on his performance alone and it is the movie's major strength.

There are points in the film where you will become completely lost and confused about what is actually going on, thinking one thing and then been totally thrown in another direction, but unlike a David Lynch movie all the surreal and dreamlike scenarios are made very relevant in the final revelations. If this had been a Lynch movie it would have been classed as a work of genius, but because it is a Cameron Crowe film, viewers and critics have struggled to come to terms with what it actually is; a challenging, thought provoking study of human emotions.

Superbly realised and brilliantly acted, this is a movie that will stay with you for a long time and make you think that a second or even third viewing maybe needed to take in everything the film throws at you.

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