Movie Reviews from Hell
Vanilla Sky
| Director: | Cameron Crowe |
|---|---|
| Year: | 2002 |
| Rating: |
 |
"We cannot do great things, only small things with great love." - Mother Teresa
The entire point of this movie is summed up in the first few minutes of the film. "Open your eyes" says a voice on Tom's CD radio.
And that's exactly what Vanilla Sky is. An awakening. It's like the moment when your whole life flashes you by before you pass away, and you wonder, was it all worth it? Did you get what you wanted out of your life?
Consequences, for the little things. The little things you did and did not do in life, that could have turned it all around. "Every minute of your life is a chance to turn it all around," says Sophia to Tom before his tragic accident. It's a reminder to us, the audience, to live our lives, and pay attention to the little things in life.
Because after living your life as a dream, the things you love will have passed you by, and when you're standing on the edge of the building, teetering from the wind at your back, every single one of those things will come back to you before you plummet into the afterlife.
The genius of Cameron Crowe's film making is his uncanny talent for character - not development - just "character", all encompassing - and more importantly, his magical ability to weave the fabric between characters. His films are a landscape of relationships with characters so very believable. Like the little scene where Tom awakens from his nightmare, goes to the bathroom and sees his face is still "repaired". He then makes a silly face in the mirror. How more true to human nature could that be? Very rarely do we see such raw honesty on the big screen. And that's what I love about Crowe's work, and what makes Vanilla Sky so great.
Albeit, it is a tragic story, or more like a tragic memory that we never had. But there is a glimpse of a better future. If we just open our eyes to see it.