Reviews of the film "Vanilla Sky" will appeal to all fans of psychological thrillers, melodramas and science fiction who are not yet familiar with this creation of director Cameron Crowe. It was such a diverse picture that turned out to be released in 1997.
Creating a picture
Reviews for the movie Vanilla Sky were mostly positive. The picture was a remake of the mystical drama Alejandro Amenabar "Open Your Eyes", which was released in 1997. That tape received the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Film Festival, was nominated immediately in ten categories for the Spanish national award "Goya", was awarded at the Berlin Festival for its directorial work.
It is noteworthy that the main female role in that picture went to Penelope Cruz, who became the only actress who played in the American version of this story. And in the same role.
Plot
The content of the film "Vanilla Sky" will convince you that this is a fascinating story that can impress anyone. At the center of the story is rich playboy David Ames, played by Tom Cruise. It seems that his life was a success. He has his own successful publishing house, an apartment in a respectable area of New York. An important place in his world is occupied by friend and writer Brian Shelby (actor Jason Lee) and beloved girl Julie Giani (actress Cameron Diaz).
The only thing that prevented his existence was the fear of heights. He lived with this flaw until he met at one of the many parties in which he constantly took part, attractive Sofia (performed by Penelope Cruz). After that, his girlfriend Julianne gave him a scene of jealousy. David, upset, gets into her car and crashes in a car accident. Julianne decides to commit suicide, she successfully succeeds.
After coma
After a coma, David comes to life with a disability with a disfigured face. It has to be hidden with a special prosthesis so as not to shock others. By and large, this is just a mask. His life is completely changing, attempts to get close to Sofia or friends fail. Pain and ugliness bring him suffering, because of which he is no longer able to live a normal life. Desperate, he decides to take a risky operation, which is successfully completed. According to the plot of the film "Vanilla Sky", the main character comes to his senses with a normal and even attractive face. There is a feeling that all the problems are behind. Sofia returns to him again, life begins to resemble the past. Happy and serene. But suddenly, visions and reality begin to mix, an even greater nightmare begins.
When David once goes to bed with Sofia, he sees a dream in which he again turns into a freak, and when he wakes up in the middle of the night, he finds himself next to the revived Julianne. The girl begins to convince David that she is Sofia, but he naturally does not believe her. He calls the police, but they detain him, suspecting the murder of Sofia.
How was everything really?
At the police station, the protagonist is questioned by psychologist McCabe. His goal is to understand what is delirious in David’s memoirs, and what really happened. During the investigation, the memory gradually begins to return to the young man. In particular, he recalls that he has entered into an agreement with a company called Life Extension, which deals with cryonics. They freeze hopeless patients, saving their lives this way. When David is in the office of the company, everything finally falls into place.
Viewers learn that the protagonist entered into an agreement with this company one and a half centuries ago, almost immediately after he realized that he had suffered too much in the accident to continue a normal life. The technology of the corporation allows not only to freeze the client, but also to convincingly instill in his mind the conscious visions of his choice. However, the option David chose was distorted for some unknown reason. In this situation, it is assumed that the client will be able to call a technical support specialist. He tells David that he has two options. Either return to your already corrected dream, or wake up a completely healthy person, but almost without money. Literally all his condition went to treatment. David chooses the real world, but for this he needs to overcome his fear of heights and jump from the roof of a skyscraper. When he steps into the abyss, he wakes up almost immediately.
What is the movie about?
The plot of the picture was so confusing and complicated, with a lot of hidden meanings, that after the release of the tape on the screens, the audience argued for a long time what the hidden meaning of the film "Vanilla Sky" was.
Most of the viewers thought that the main message that the director sent was that life is the main mystery of our existence. It is often very difficult to distinguish between reality and illusions. Everyone dreams of changing something in their life in order to improve their destiny. And if you imagine that this is possible, we can create the world in which we would like to live, our ideal world.
In this situation, the protagonist of this picture also appears. As critics wrote in reviews of the film "Vanilla Sky", this happens when the protagonist decides to come to a company that offers such a service. Its experts immerse anyone in a perfect dream, so realistic that it becomes easy to believe that all this is actually happening.
The creators of the film "Vanilla Sky" with Tom Cruise sought to show that a person should live here and now, not putting off anything in his life for later. It is important to abandon the illusions, remaining in the real world, no matter how difficult it may seem to us. In life you always need to go forward, not looking back at the past, abandoning pink glasses, since no paints and simulators are capable of actually decorating reality.
Spectator Impressions
Many viewers left positive reviews for the film "Vanilla Sky". They were delighted with this picture, which vividly demonstrates how a fairy tale can destroy our life if you strongly believe in it, and love, as a rule, occurs completely by accident.
The film is especially unique, thanks to the brilliant footage. No wonder he was even nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Paul McCartney’s Vanilla Sky song. Separately, the reviews of the film "Vanilla Sky" noted the brilliant work of the actors. Here, a truly outstanding composition of first-class stars was selected.
Negative
At the same time, there were those who frankly did not like the film. In the description of the film Vanilla Sky, demanding viewers agreed that it was a beautiful Hollywood melodrama with an interesting plot, but it could not be compared with the original picture: the Spanish film Open Your Eyes. American actors play in public too fancifully. It seems that the director and even the scenery do everything just to please the viewer.
Fans of science fiction remain frankly disappointed after watching this picture, since they, unfortunately, do not see any original ideas and solutions. The drama present in the film looks too strained and superficial.
In addition, not everyone was impressed with the acting. The hero of Tom Cruise looks secondary, as if he was completely decommissioned from his own image in Jerry Maguire, the same Cameron Crowe. His role is frankly lacking in novelty, and the script does not allow him to fully express himself.
As a result, many agreed that the responsibility for the failure rests entirely with the director.
Film critics
Critics of the film reacted very ambiguously. Especially a lot of negative reviews from professionals from the world of cinema were in the domestic press.
To Russian critics, “Vanilla Sky” seemed an overly complicated thriller. At the same time, absolutely everyone noted the transition that Cruz made from flat and monotonous heroes saving the world, as in Mission Impossible, to really deep and dramatic roles in which it is important to show oneself.