Genre: Drama / Romance
Rating: R
Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, & Jason Lee
Released: 2001

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Coming off the release of Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe had large expectations (at least for me) with Vanilla Sky. The movie starts off with David Aames (Tom Cruise), a New York magazine mogul who has everything, going through life superficially. At a party he is introduced to ?the? woman (Penelope Cruz) that can change everything, his hopes, his dreams, and his desires. However, his friend Julianna Gianni (Cameron Diaz), who he has been sleeping around with does not want him with anyone else, so does the most logical step, drive herself off an overpass with David Aames.

This is where the movie gets confusing to say the least and I think it will be best to leave the rest as a surprise if you have yet to see the movie. I of course wrote up to this point because otherwise you may be tempted to just turn off the movie before that point. I can rarely think of a movie that had a slower start than Vanilla Sky but with an ending that was actually worth waiting around for.

Throughout the beginning I thought I would give it just a few more minutes because I have a negative bias towards Tom Cruise?s antics in real life which biases me towards his acting in movies and wanted to see if he could redeem himself. Overall, the wait was worthwhile as it takes viewers through a journey that is confusing as it twists and turns, but nowhere as lethargic and unmemorable as Memento. Did I mention that Memento which came out around the time of Vanilla Sky sucks?

Despite finding the ending very delightful, I cannot get over the fact that the beginning could have been edited better and Cruise?s character seemed surprisingly shallow, especially considering the depth that Cruz showed in her scenes, even though I feel that was purposely scripted, but I am getting off topic. Cameron Crowe did not reach the magic that he gave in Almost Famous, but gives a movie that is still better than most of the crap that is released these days.