 |
A Breath of Fresh Air A Review by |
| Vanilla Sky is one of those movies that just intrigued me the
moment I saw the commercial. The premise of the story seemed to simple, but so very
complex. I had to see it, and see if my mind was playing tricks on me. Well, it was...but
in a very good way. In one night David Ames (Tom Cruise) meets the girl (Sofia played by Penelope Cruz) of his dreams and loses her by making a small mistake. Thrust unexpectedly onto a roller-coaster ride of romance, comedy, suspicion, love, sex and dreams, David finds himself on a mind-bending search for his soul and discovers the precious, ephemeral nature of true love. I'm going to have to say this right off the bat. I have very mixed feelings towards Tom Cruise. He's a decent actor, who is better at picking easy scripts to walk through than picking vehicles that really test his acting ability. That could be why I was completely blown away by Cruise's performance in this film. Whatever misconceptions I had about this man prior to this film have been vanquished, and I wish I was able to see more of this out of him. I now feel that he can do something other than being the mid-30's pretty boy with "charms o grande". Cruise reaches on many planes of emotions, and taps into a darkside of him that's quite mesmerizing. And to do some of this under make-up and masks truly stands as a testament to his ability. Kudos to Cruise. The rest of the cast is perfect as well. Diaz has shown before her ability to travel through many levels in her character, and the gorgeous Penelope Cruz steals not only the heart of David Ames. But manages to have a natural endearing quality that touches the very center of the audiences heart. Jason Lee, though used sparsely, adds some much needed comic relief to this otherwise dark flick. Which leads me to one of a couple of qualms I have about this movie. I usually find myself able to keep up with movies, but this one had me bent over like Jenna Jameson on New Years. There were moments where you are completely lost as an audience member, and to some that may be much more off putting than it should be. I don't have too much of a problem with this, I like being kept on my toes. However, the way they reveal the resolve of the film (however beautiful) is a little too rushed. Its like we've kept you in the dark for this entire film, here's everything you need to know right here on a spoon fed platter. If it wasn't so touching, I would completely hate it. But the director (and actors) blend the resolution with humanity that takes the dark element of the film and shines a glimpse of light on it. And running at a whopping 2 hours and 20 minutes....this film needed something to get it out of darkness. If you have the patience to get through a great film that moves tediously through each and every scene (I think the editor of this film needs to be slapped around a little bit), you will end up seeing one damn fine film that will probably be laughed upon by the average movie goer. However those who like some meat on their plate, this film will deliver that and the seconds. Rating: |
-Now that you've read something, he's written. Wouldn't you like to find out more about Vigilante? Here you go. |
