Well... Cameron Crowe has certainly made a good film in VANILLA SKY--the trouble is, the good film he made was done a couple of years back as ABRE LOS OJOS/OPEN YOUR EYES! Yes, I know this is an acknowledged remake of the Alejandro Amenabar film as opposed to a ripoff, and I know that it takes Tom Cruise to pack them in the way that a foreign indy never could--but nothing prepared me for just how thoroughly SLAVISH a remake we've just been handed!
Everything that worked in the original--every plot twist, every line of dialogue, hell--virtually every SHOT of the original has been duly recreated here. (I'm not going to go into the plot--it's pointless if you've seen OPEN YOUR EYES and quite spoilsome if you haven't.) In all fairness, Crowe has brought in some new elements--but it's just as fair to point out that they add practically nothing when all's said and done. We're given extra corporate intrigue in the form of a board nicknamed "The Seven Dwarfs." We're given a new character in the form of Cruise's lawyer/friend. We're repeatedly told about a miracle involving "Bennie the Dog." Okay, none of THAT stuff was in the original. And none of it NEEDED to be there any more than it needs to be here--subract every bit of it and you've got just as good a story and just as good a movie.
Crowe only succeeds in making this his OWN movie in isolated scenes. A reference to a Bob Dylan album cover--a clip from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD--things like that are used quite effectively and pay off well. And there's one completely brilliant scene--without spoiling it, let's say that it involves the actual commission of the deed of which the Cruise character stands accused. The action's the same as it was in the original--but Crowe's uncanny sense of appropriate soundtrack material takes over completely: the use of the Monkees' "Porpoise Song" (the theme from "Head") bowled me over at a point where I never would have expected it. The song, interwoven with other unusual choices, pulled me without warning into a different zone--while this was going on, I was thoroughly caught up in this NEW movie, and I wanted nothing more than for this effect to last. I'm sorry to report that it didn't.
Of course it's well shot. Of course it's well acted. Of course Cruise, Cruz and Kurt Russell are good. Of course it's going to hold your interest if it's new to you. But do yourself a favor if you haven't seen OPEN YOUR EYES and watch it--hell, just watch any random fifteen minutes of it and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Cameron Crowe's writer/director credit should have been IMMEDIATELY followed by Amenabar's acknowledgement, because almost everything that works in VANILLA SKY was done by him. Not necessarily done "better," but done FIRST.
