Written and Directed by:  Cameron Crowe
Adapted from the film/screenplay Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) by: Alejandro Amenábar, Mateo Gil
Starring:  Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee, Kurt Russell, Tilda Swinton
 

December 13, 2001

       When a film is remade, it would be wise to at least try to make it better than the original, or at least different.  A director has to be a tad bit vain to even try a remake.  Why copy someone else's work when you could make something original?  Director Cameron Crowe displays the same vanity that his main character does in his new film Vanilla Sky.
        In case you weren't aware, Vanilla Sky is a remake of a 1997 film from Spain, Open Your Eyes or Abre Los Ojos.  Penélope Cruz also starred in the original as the same character, Sofia.  The original was decent as a psychological thriller, but ultimately failed at its finale.  So my question is, why make the same film, with almost all the same scenes.  Was Crowe trying to do a Gus Van Sant Psycho here?
        Don't get me wrong, Crowe changed a few things.  He moved the setting to New York and made Cesar, now David Ames, a magazine publishing mogul who inherited the business from his father.  He added an unnecessary subplot about a board of directors, named the Seven Dwarves, which is a stolen title from the seven big CEO's of tobacco in The Insider, a true story.  And he took out a scene of violence near the end, probably to be politically correct, which actually heightened the climax in the original.  Were these changes really worthy of remaking the whole film?  If not, then why did Crowe remake it?
        How about as a vehicle for Tom Cruise?  Tom Cruise fits the David Ames character well: no one else could bring to the role his star power and bright smile, the ladder being made fun of again in this film, as well as in M:I2.  The difference between the man and the character is, Tom Cruise has a right to be arrogant, because of the risks he takes in films like Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia, and David is just vain.
        David didn't work for everything he has, so he has no appreciation of it.  He's the worse kind of playboy; he uses women and then spits them out, and is only concerned with having fun.  So we're supposed to feel sorry for him when a deranged "f$%# buddy" of his decides to take her revenge.
        Let's just say when Julie Gianni (Diaz) gets mad, she drives off a cliff.  Thus, she dies and David is left deformed.  This handsome player who used to get by on his looks no longer can, and a psychological mind game commences. 
        Is his life a dream, or is it reality?  Did he commit murder or is Julie still alive?  These questions lead to an inevitable let down, that failed in Open Your Eyes, and fails here again.
        At least Amenábar was a little less obvious with the clues he inserted.  Crowe is blatant, even adding a Conan O'Brien skit to set the stage for the ending. 
        The only good thing about Vanilla Sky is the opening scene, where we see David drive into an empty Times Square.  Apparently Crowe got the ok from the city to shut down Times Square for a couple of hours to shoot that scene.  Just about everything after that is a recreation of Open Your Eyes. 
        Many of the scenes are exactly the same.  David and Sofia meet at a party, the mental hospital scenario that is actually better in the original because Cesar hid his masked face in the shadows which made it all the more mysterious, the bar scene with his best friend, the restaurant scene with the tech support guy, etc.
        One definition of vain reads without real value or worth.  Vain describes Vanilla Sky along with its director Cameron Crowe and main character David Ames.  Cape Fear is an example of what a remake should be.  Scorsese took the story from the original, updated it, and added a visual style that upped the tension and terror of the original.  Crowe took the original and basically made the same film with no originality and no skill.
 

Recommended Alternatives: Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Mission: Impossible II (all s: Cruise), Cape Fear

-Reviewed in Theater at Advanced Screening- 

Read the Review for Open Your Eyes, the original Vanilla Sky from Spain.

Also check out these previous Fidelio Film Reviews:

Eyes Wide Shut
The Insider
Magnolia
Mission:Impossible II
Mulholland Drive

Worst Adapted Screenplay Cameron Crowe	Worst Cinematography John Toll
Worst Special Effects