Jason Lee and Tom Cruise in "Vanilla Sky."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film an: Stars: Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz Director: Cameron Crowe Rated: R, with sex and profanity Length: 133 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(December 14, 2001) -- Is your life going so well that it seems like a dream? Well, maybe it is.

So be careful, because with one thoughtless mistake, you might turn it into a nightmare.

That's the principle behind Vanilla Sky, the dark and twisting romance thriller from actor Tom Cruise and director Cameron Crowe, previously teamed for Jerry Maguire.

Cruise plays David Aames, a "Prince of the City," a wealthy Manhattan playboy with great looks, unlimited resources and winning ways with nearly every woman who crosses his path.

As we meet him, he's having a fling with the latest one-night stand, a sexy, aggressive young woman named Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz). However, Julie isn't so willing to call it a one-night stand: "You make a promise with your body, just as if you've spoken it," she tells an incredulous (and nervous) David.

A few nights later, David hosts a party at his stunning penthouse and meets a young woman who takes his breath away. She's a charming young dancer named Sofia (Penelope Cruz). She swiftly makes David believe there's more to life than one-night stands.

But that's when the uninvited Julie crashes the party. A short time later, there's a tragic car wreck, with all sorts of dire consequences and guilty implications, and David's good life goes a-tumbling.

I'm reluctant to give away much more about this unusual, offbeat film, except to alert filmgoers that Vanilla Sky is not a conventional romantic thriller. Don't let the trailer fool you -- this is not a hip, new-age variation of Fatal Attraction.

Despite its title, there's nothing "vanilla" about the plot. We're immersed in the psychological, the pathological, even the metaphysical, with echoes of such diverse influences as Cruise's own Eyes Wide Shut and the under-appreciated 1990 thriller Jacob's Ladder.

Perhaps making it easier for filmgoers to take the tale's mind-bending journey is the attractive, top-shelf cast.

Cruise is ideal, of course, to play a drop-dead-gorgeous guy who rules all he surveys. But he also skillfully handles the darker, more disturbing aspects of David's story.

Cruz is lovely and sweet as the idealized Sofia and seems to bring more subtle nuances to this encore performance. Diaz, meanwhile, is sensual and driven, but also suitably edgy and spooky as the obsessed lover.

The fine supporting cast includes a restrained Kurt Russell as a psychologist trying to help David and Jason Lee as David's likable best friend.

As adapted by Crowe, Vanilla Sky is remarkably faithful to the original 1997 Spanish thriller with the far-better title, Open Your Eyes. Curiously, that film also starred Cruz. The relatively few American viewers who saw the Spanish film will find Crowe's version more artful and better explained than its predecessor.