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Publishing tycoon David Aames believes he may have found the
missing piece to his incomplete life when he meets the woman
of his dreams. But a fateful encounter with a jealous lover
sends David's world out of control, rocketing him on a roller-coaster
ride of romance, sex, suspicion and dreams to a shocking,
final awakening...
Vanilla
Sky is
an Americanised version of the Spanish movie Abre Los Ojos.
And as Hollywood conversions go it is pretty faithful to the
original. Forget The Assassin, My Father the Hero and
Just Visiting. This time Hollywood has tried to capture
the spirit of the original and make it cater for a wider audience.
I
originally saw Abre Los Ojos when it first appeared
on DVD - well before Vanilla Sky received its theatrical
release. I loved the original and have to admit I was a little
apprehensive what Hollywood would do once they got their hands
on it.
The
result is not bad. It is certainly not as good as the original,
but it does stay amazingly faithful to it. And there is a
scene near the beginning where Tom Cruise is running around
an empty Times Square which is more unnerving than in the
original movie.
Timothy
Spall makes a surprise appearance as Aame's lawyer and Jason
Lee plays Aame's best friend Brian Shelby. But possibly the
best performance is from Cameron Diaz as Aames's latest fling,
a role she is not happy with as she has fallen in love with
the publishing tycoon. As she becomes more obsessed it is
not too long before we realise that she is a dangerous individual.
There
is a cracking soundtrack that accompanies the movie which
includes a track which I had long forgotten by R.E.M.
The
ending is slightly more disappointing than the original. Without
giving too much away it is a lot more obvious what is going
on and the character played by Kurt Russell is not as believable
here.
Having
said that this is a great
movie which doesn't disappoint.
Darren
Rea
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