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Vanilla Sky (2001)

tomatometer

40

Average Rating: 5.2/10
Reviews Counted: 163
Fresh: 66 | Rotten: 97

An ambitious mix of genres, Vanilla Sky collapses into an incoherent jumble. Cruise's performance lacks depth, and it's hard to feel sympathy for his narcissistic character.

24

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 25

An ambitious mix of genres, Vanilla Sky collapses into an incoherent jumble. Cruise's performance lacks depth, and it's hard to feel sympathy for his narcissistic character.

audience

68

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 269,094

My Rating

Movie Info

A remake of the Spanish film Open Your Eyes (1997), this thriller from director Cameron Crowe bears one of several discarded titles for his previous, Oscar-winning film Almost Famous (2000). Tom Cruise stars as David Ames, a womanizing playboy who finds romantic redemption when he falls in love with his best friend's girlfriend Sofia (Penelope Cruz, reprising her role from the original film). Before that relationship can begin, however, David is coaxed into a car driven by an ex-lover, Julie

May 21, 2002

$100.5M

Paramount Pictures

Cast

All Critics (175) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (69) | Rotten (99) | DVD (36)

A good example of what self-destructive cinematic havoc can be wrought by handing over millions of dollars to movie stars to produce their own ego trips.

December 19, 2001 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment (1)
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

[A] spectacular film!

December 18, 2001 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If Crowe's eyes are open, he seems to have directed most of Vanilla Sky with his mind wide shut.

December 18, 2001 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I have no idea why one of our most original film-makers would want to spend two years of his life translating someone else's movie from Spanish into English. And it wasn't such a good film in Spanish, either.

December 17, 2001 Comment
ABCNEWS.COM
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Who would have thought that Cameron Crowe had a movie as bad as Vanilla Sky in him?

December 15, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

For all the filmmakers' efforts, this project is something of an artistic albatross.

December 14, 2001 Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Some surface appeal, but ultimately vacant.

December 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Cameron Crowe's vinyl-collector version of "Jacob's Ladder" is a daring gamble paying off even when ambition exceeds his grasp. The subconscious can boil over with too much pop culture poured in. Keep that in mind, and it will have you at "What the hell?"

November 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment (1)
Suite101.com

A truly horrible waste of money and talent and two and a half hours I'll never get back...

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comments (3)
Cinema Crazed

It just makes things easier to believe that good-looking rich folks are just as miserable and unhappy as the rest of us . . .

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | Comments (2)

This is a whole new palette for Crowe, and his excitement rubs off on us.

July 25, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

A classic case of what happens when a Hollywood studio and a star (Cruise) take a Spanish metaphysical thriller and turn it into a glossy, overproduced big-budget star vehicle that lacks distinct identity.

October 21, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Vanilla Sky turns out to be a rousing, exhilarating entertainment, thanks mostly to Cruise's balls-to-the-wall performance.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

My suggestion is to avoid this film and instead rent Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) the film upon which Vanilla Sky was based.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comments (4)

Vanilla Sky is a long, complex, ambitious thriller that doesn't quite work.

January 15, 2005 Comment
Looking Closer

Expect top notch work by Cruise, Crowe and Co.

October 30, 2004 Full Review | Comment

The film is seamless, surprising and erotic, mixing the best elements of romance, sci fi and drama.

February 24, 2004 Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | Comment
Zap2it.com

... A psychological thriller that will keep you guessing even after you've left the theater.

January 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | Comment
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky is a very interesting and somewhat bizarre film. I saw this when it first came out and thought it was a good film with some good performances. Tom Cruise is good here, and the rest of the cast are good as well. Cameron Crowe who directed Almost Famous and Elizabethtown directs this film, and though this

February 6, 2012
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

Interesting film, but fully unnecessary remake.

June 23, 2011
Lucas Martins

Super Reviewer

    1. Rebecca Dearborn: Most of us live our whole lives... without any real adventure to call our own.
    – Submitted by Adam S (5 months ago)
    1. Edmund Ventura: You were missed, David.
    – Submitted by Adam S (5 months ago)
    1. David Aames: Oh no It's (the prosthetic mask) great. It completely takes care of Halloween. But what about the other three hundred and sixty four days of the year?
    – Submitted by Wei T (8 months ago)
    1. Sofia Serrano: I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. Sofia Serrano: Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.
    – Submitted by Lynn S (9 months ago)

Latest News for Vanilla Sky

November 2, 2006:
Tom Cruise Handed Reins to Reborn United Artists
After a very public break-up with Paramount back in August, Tom Cruise and producing partner Paula...

August 23, 2006:
Paramount & Tom Cruise Decide to See Other People
Paramount decided not to extend its contract with Tom Cruise's production company, thereby sparking...

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