Amenabar skilfully manipulates the time-space continuum, while skipping between reality and fantasy often enough to keep the audience in a constant state of vertigo.
Comment
01/01/00
Open Your Eyes (1997)
84
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:44
Fresh:37
Rotten:7
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Director Alejandro Amenábar tackles some heady issues with finesse and clarity in Open Your Eyes, a gripping exploration of existentialism and the human spirit.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: Handsome 25-year-old César (Eduardo Noriega) has it all--a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women. Unfortunately, he can't... [More]
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Reviews for Open Your Eyes
A jigsaw puzzle of passion and lust, desire and pain.
06/13/02
This sophomore feature by Amenábar is a deeply complex psychological mind warp of a film that begs to be viewed more than once.
01/01/00
One of the most thought-provoking thrillers of recent years, a film that really does challenge its audience's expectations and suppositions at every turn.
01/22/02
Click to read the article
03/24/02
Confirmed my suspicion that Alejandro Amenábar may be the most promising filmmaker under 30.
01/17/02
Even if the script (written by the director and Mateo Gil) and direction are patchy, the obsessive theme is gripping.
06/08/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
08/11/08
Well acted by a primarily young cast headed by Eduardo Noriega and possesses several particularly bold images that take good advantage of the qualities of the medium.
01/01/00
Banish any thought that this might be a thoughtful or insightful parable; it simply doesn't get under the surface enough to sustain that level of discourse.
01/01/00
The first portion of the movie can't possibly prepare audiences for what turns out to be a series of inane plot contrivances, which help the movie end with a real thud.
01/01/00
No review available.
07/13/05
That [Amenabr] has come up with a film of such visual and structural audacity confirms him as one of Spanish cinemas brightest new talents.
01/01/00
When the conceptual rug is pulled out from under the audience and the wacky camera angles start coming fast and hard, Open Your Eyes pays off with some intriguing SF themes.
01/01/00
Falls apart about halfway through. Great acting, though.
08/09/02
What makes it all work is Amenabar's smoothly assured handling of the material, which is always in danger of becoming too silly to bother with.
01/01/00
Alejandro Amenabar announced himself in the category of the top level of directors working today.
12/06/05
If Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch had collaborated on a project, the result might have been something like Open Your Eyes."
08/02/09
For adventurous filmgoers, though, this Spanish import offers something off the beaten path and a chance to play the coffee-shop game: Could This Screenplay Be Saved?
03/19/02
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/28/02
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