Vanilla Sky (2001)

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

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writers:

Alejandro Amenábar (film "Abre Los Ojos"), Mateo Gil (film "Abre Los Ojos"),

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Incarcerated and charged with murder, David Aames Jr. is telling the story of how he got to where he is to McCabe, the police psychologist. That story includes: being the 51% shareholder of a major publishing firm, which he inherited from his long deceased parents; the firm's board, appointed by David Aames Sr., being the 49% shareholders who would probably like to see him gone as they see him as being too irresponsible and immature to run the company; his best bro friendship with author, Brian Shelby; his "friends with benefits" relationship with Julie Gianni, who saw their relationship in a slightly different light; his budding romance with Sofia Serrano, who Brian brought to David's party as his own date and who Brian saw as his own possible life mate; and being in an accident which disfigured his face and killed the person who caused the accident. But as the story proceeds, David isn't sure what is real and what is a dream/nightmare as many facets of the story are incompatible to ...

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Plot Keywords:

party | dream | psychologist | publisher | love | 

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Taglines:

Forget everything you know, and open your eyes.

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Genres:

Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Pathé / Wanadoo (Cable/ASDL, Modem) (French)

Country:

USA Spain

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

14 December 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nebo boje vanile

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$68,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$916,040 (Spain) (1 February 2002)

Gross:

$100,614,858 (USA) (26 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Cruise/Wagner Productions, Vinyl Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Studio executives wanted Cameron Crowe to use special effects to remove shots of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Crowe didn't remove them, and they appear in several shots of New York.

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Goofs

In the car crash scene: one shot (from inside the car) shows the car about to hit the wall, and then it switches to an exterior shot of the car, and it's halfway between the bridge and the wall.

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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]

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits for the film.

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Connections

References Jules and Jim (1962)

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Soundtracks

"I Fall Apart"
(2001)
by Nancy Wilson and Cameron Crowe
Performed by Cameron Diaz
Produced by Nancy Wilson

User Reviews

Why people dislike this movie...

I for one really like this movie for some reasons I'll go into late but I want to touch on why I think people don't like it. First off, there are people out there who just like to hate Tom Cruise. I don't understand it really. Second, Cameron Crowe I think successfully p***es off two groups of movie-goers with this film. The casual, relaxed, "not looking to think too hard" group of movie-goers are left confused when the plot takes a complete 180 at the end of the movie. And the deep, philosophical, mystery-fans are devastated when Crowe has one of his characters completely explain the mystery.

This is a good movie. And Tom Cruise does a very good job in it. I think it's probably his best performance from what I've seen all though I haven't seen all of his movies, or even a majority of them probably. The supporting cast is good as well. Penelope Cruz gives a solid performance and Jason Lee was enjoyable.

I like the story, and I think that's what Vanilla Sky is more than anything. It's a mystery, an adventure, and a romantic comedy, but it's mostly just a good story. And it has a lot of philosophical undertones to it, and many similar ideas and stories like this occur in historical philosophy. David Aames (Cruise) is the man that had everything he wanted, more or less lost it, was given a second chance with a catch to regain it all back, and in the end facing his demons and the full scope of what is happening, chooses reality, simplicity, and normality to see if he can finally find the one thing he could never get a grip on: happiness.

Many people were disappointed that Crowe laid out the complete mystery at the end. I think it's necessary. The audience then knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that David is aware of his circumstances and it makes the choice at the end all the more powerful.

And the music in the movie is great. It's probably what makes the movie as enjoyable as it is. Particularly, "Njosnavelin" by Sigur Ros, which is an amazing song.

All in all, I'd give it 3 out 4 stars. It's a movie with some substance for those who like to think things through, and a great story for those looking to relax. That "moderate" approach is probably why people dislike it so much because it isn't a full blown mystery, or a full blown love story. It mixes and matches different elements and genres.