Vanilla Sky

I had heard various things about this movie, not all good, not all bad. I waited until it came out on video, but I think that I would not have been disappointed had I seen it in the theatres. It definitely messes with your mind on a number of occasions, but I think it is generally well done. In the interests of full disclosure, I have to mention that Tom and I go way back. I have been carrying a torch for him ever since I saw him in The Outsiders when I was 12. I don’t imagine there are many of his movies that I haven’t seen. So my judgment of his performance may be clouded by lustblinders. Penelope Cruz, however, has not been a favourite in the past. She often comes across as kind of flaky and floozy, and I can’t respect that. I will have to admit, though, that she did a reasonable job in this one. Overall, I would say that this is a good movie (not fabulous, but strongly good). Many people dismissed it as “too intellectual”, but I would have to disagree. It is more pop psychology than high intellect, but that didn’t detract from the experience in my mind. (****)