![]() ![]() ![]() One of the characters in the film describes the lucid dream concept as “the cryonic union of science and entertainment.” Not only will your body be preserved after you die, but your mind will be sustained in an evolving dream, controlled by your subconscious. (Think JERRY MAGUIRE in THE TWILIGHT ZONE.) That human touch comes from Crowe’s major contribution to the story: “the lucid dream.” VANILLA SKY is more like a Ray Bradbury story… the sci-fi elements are still there, but the emphasis is on the human drama. The colors are muted, the silences are tiring, and the characters never quite connect with each other. ABRE LOS OJOS is enigmatic, haunting and often forbidding. Of course, that may be part of the problem for some viewers…Īmenabar’s source story – about the journey of a man’s sleeping brain inside his cryogenically frozen body – plays out like an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. In visual terms and in terms of story, VANILLA SKY has a warmer palette. Often, VANILLA SKY is a scene for scene remake… but there’s never any question that it is Crowe’s film. "Cover song" is an appropriate designation, considering the way that Crowe made ABRE LOS OJOS his own. He knew he had a great band (so to speak), so he re-assembled them and set out to perform an elaborate “cover song.” He decided it would make a perfect “contemporary” successor to his intensely personal period piece ALMOST FAMOUS, and he was eager to reassemble his company of players from that film. When Crowe saw it for the first time, he was equally captivated. The actor already loved the film and had bought the rights to remake it. The director says that the project began with a private screening of Alejandro Amenabar’s ABRE LOS OJOS at Cruise’s house. ![]() VANILLA SKY was Crowe’s followup to ALMOST FAMOUS as well as his second film with Tom Cruise (after JERRY MAGUIRE). To quote the guitar hero of ALMOST FAMOUS, he's all about the “little things.” Personally, I think VANILLA SKY illustrates exactly what’s so great about Crowe as a filmmaker. I know a few people who really love this film, but I can name a few who hate it. The film wasn’t a huge money-maker (at least, for a Tom Cruise vehicle budgeted at $68 million) and it got mixed reviews. VANILLA SKY is not as highly regarded as some of the filmmaker’s other work. I’ve already written about three of his films this year (FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, SAY ANYTHING and ALMOST FAMOUS) and I can’t resist doing one more. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Cameron Crowe. ![]()
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