If you enjoyed
Bobby Ewing re-appearing in the shower then you will like
this film or if u think Andy Warhole's pictures are really
cool, when u look at them upside down, and think, yeah!
pure genius here....
This film will
appeal to about five percent of the film going population
who are in the latter category. The rest are normal,
balanced, seeking a nights entertainment or just hooked on
'Citizen Dildo' (Tom Cruise)
Have to say,
it wasn't a great performance by Cruise either - he still
flashes his smile and exposes his recent body building
results, but spends a lot of the film with his face
encased in a medical prosthesis to hide the scars left
behind following a car crash with his stalker Julie Gianni
(Diaz)
The 
film opens
with Cruise going to work in New York, driving through
deserted neighbourhoods and Times Square - the fact
that Times Square was empty of ppl and traffic was one of
the two highlights of the film.. yeah I know! Whether it
was the real place or a mock up is irrelevant, but none
the less an interesting concept. The Director is
experimenting with this film and it really didn't come
off. The film is based on the original Spanish version of Abre
Los Ojos (Open your eyes), which makes me want to see the
original. This film is based around David Aames (Cruise)
who inherited the vast magazine publishing empire from his
father. Thrown in at the deep end he owns 51% of the
company - the rest being controlled by the board of
directors - the so called Seven Dwarfs. Playboy Aames is
more interested in parties and women that actual business
decisions, though he does value friendly advice given by
his seemingly incompetent lawyer, who warns of a board
over throw.
But its not
about business or boardroom battles, its about his
sleeping around with Julie Gianni, and then his attraction
to the voluptuous Sofia played by Penelope Cruz. Meanwhile
cheesed off Julie begins to stalk him. He takes one last
ride ( in a car!) with Julie, who promptly drives off
a bridge in Central park - notice the lack of dummies in
the slow motion car crash! The crash leaves his face looking
even worse than Michael Jackson's recent cosmetic
surgery and then the whole film degenerates into a bizarre
dream like state where Cruise ends up in jail,
wearing a face mask facing a murder charge.
And so we
begin the magical journey of explanation to find out the
why and wherefores, constantly flicking back and fourth
between Sofia, Julie and a mystery 'Life Extension Policy'
salesman who is able to convince Aames to sign on the
dotted line and invest himself in his mind and body being
frozen.
The plot was
both in-coherent and had no substance. I wont use the word
illogical because films are suppose to stimulate the
fantasy and imagination in the viewer.
The
second good piece of film work took place at the top
of a New York skyscraper, where we find Cruise contemplating
jumping from the
top. The vertigo effect was brilliant – gut wrenching, but as
a friend said, that was like watching a porn movie and
seeing a cum shot, which took all of three seconds.!! Oh
yeah, the Vanilla sky reference was to a Monet painting
hanging on his late fathers apartment wall. Did anyone else
notice that February had 30 days on Tom Cruises car tax?? I
assume it was a car tax sticker.. hardly an N.C.T
docket on a Mustang!. Check the expiry date if u go to see
the movie, it was so big! (Ed's note - hmm it must have been
boring to notice the Tax Disc on the car??)
Personally
I would wait for the video, it didn't cut it with me.
Best
actor award goes to Benny the dog.
.
