For all the scientific hocus-pocus surrounding Life Extension and Lucid Dreams, Vanilla Sky is a film that shamelessly extols the importance of ‘face’ in a person’s life. The message sent out is quite unequivocal- face is all that matters, for your self-esteem, prospects in love and chances of success in life in general are dependent upon it. Sure money is still the answer to 99 problems out of 100, but it is basic minimum qualifier, for you won’t even get a dekko without being replete with moolah. But the shine is ultimately provided by face, the mask you wear over your skull, which is how the world identifies you. The whole yarn, 136 minutes long, is as shallow as that. That said, Vanilla Sky is a beautiful film to watch because of its lovely protagonists- Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. If face is a lottery one must win to thrive, these actors are undisputed world champions. It does not hurt that they can act as well.
David Aames (played by Tom) is the owner of a publishing company he inherited from his father, but does not display much interest in running it. He has left the company’s affairs in the hands of his father’s trusted associates, and passes his days as a playboy in Manhattan. He is advised by his well-wishers to “Claim your life. Learn to be an asshole..” He two-times his fuck-buddy, Julie, with a pretty girl, Sofia, who his friend has brought to the party. The former crashes into the party and finds out about this assignation. “I think she’s the saddest girl ever to hold a martini”, Sofia says to David about her. The next morning Julie takes matters into her own hands, and teaches David a costly lesson. She purposely crashes the car carrying her and David at a very high speed, resulting in her death and disfigurement of his face.
Along with aesthetics, Vanilla Sky boasts of cult dialogues which remain with you long after the film is done and dusted. And by that I don’t mean the humdrum ones like, “every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around,” rather stuff that is smartly written, like when David casually informs his best friend, Brian, that “Julie Gianni is a friend. Sometimes we sleep together.” Julie is Cam Diaz, by the way, and she is at her prettiest and wittiest in Vanilla Sky. “You fucked me four times the other night, David! You’ve been inside me. I swallowed your cum. That means something.” This is cult-popcorn stuff, oft-quoted, much repeated, even two decades after the film was released. Sample another one, “Don’t you know that when you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise whether you do or not.” This blanket statement opens a disloyal partner to all sorts of reprisals, even if lawfully you’d committed nothing wrong.
The film features the chilliest dumping line of all times delivered by Sofia (Penelope). She tells David, whose face is severely disfigured after the accident, and who is suffering from loss of self-esteem, “I’ll see you in another life…when we are both cats.” This was massive takedown of a vain man, mighty proud of his looks. Crestfallen David expresses his lament thus “…that one night, where true love seemed possible.”
The film is a big one on love sutras as well. Sample these lines uttered by Brian, David’s only friend, who happens to be an author, and who is envious of David’s charm, charisma and luck with women. David not only dates his dream woman, Julie Gianni, but also steals Sofia, the beautiful girl that he brings to a party. “Just know what love truly is. It’s the sour and the sweet. Just remember sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour…”. “You will never know the exquisite pain of the guy who goes home alone.”
David remains in suspended coma for 150 years. The film drags on for just as long. In its tireless bid to feature every single one of Tom’s nine and a half facial expressions at least a score of times, Cameron Crowe lets the movie drag on and on. “Look at us, I’m frozen, and you are dead, and I love you.” This explains David’s predicament after he is resurrected from the frozen state, and finds that the love of his life, Sofia, is long since dead. “You were missed David. It was Sofia who never fully recovered. She never forgot that one night where true love seemed possible.” The film has some value only because of the aesthetic pleasure provided by the presence of good-looking actors and smartly written dialogues which have since achieved cult status.
The title of the film is inspired by depiction of skies in certain paintings by Claude Monet. The film has an open ending, with many explanations possible. This usually occurs when writing is weak and non-committal, and needlessly interspersed with philosophy and futuristic science. Vanilla Sky celebrates narcissism in a grand way. Tom Cruise owns the persona of David Aames in every possible way, right from his self-obsession to eventual confusion, whereas Cameron Diaz exudes biting sensuality. Penelope Cruz gets too gooey in her performance, and that is perhaps where the film loses its edge. Cameron Crowe’s screenplay and direction turn the film into one of those modern paintings that provide aesthetic pleasure, and vague understanding, but do not allow the viewer to develop any firm understanding about it.
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Abhinav Pancholi 