Premise - A magazine publisher has his life turned upside down after a car crash. That's about all I can say without divulging spoilers and that would be a crime! I love films that mess around with your perception of reality and Vanilla Sky certainly does that. From about thirty minutes into the film you start to question the reliability of what you are seeing. It's not until the final few minutes of the film that everything start to make a lick of sense. So for the vast majority of the film you are sitting thinking, 'Why's he doing that?', 'I thought he had done this?' etc. I like films that constantly make you think throughout, Memento, The Usual Suspects and anything by David Lynch being good examples. Now you can add Vanilla Sky to that list. Cameron Crowe is fast becoming one of my favourite filmmakers, this film is another quality movie that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of - Almost Famous, Jerry Magiure and Say Anything. His use of music in the movie is inspired, popular acts from the last thirty years are splashed all over. From Radiohead to The Chemical Brother to The Beach Boys, truly eclectic stuff. His script also, is excellent. Throwing the audience curve ball after curve ball. Toying with the viewer, making assumptions then throwing them out the window for a new take on events. The cinematography by Ted Toll is to die for. The gorgeous vanilla sky's of the title, the decadent apartment that Cruises character lives in, the film looks magnificent. The pinnacle however is in the first five minutes. Cruise drives to work only to find himself in a completely deserted Times Square, it's as eerie as it is beautiful. The cast are all fantastic. I like Cruise in general, but he is excellent here. The character he plays is basically a silver spoon, rich kid. Obviously Cruise has some experience in this field as he has a few quid to throw about. Surprisingly good is Penelope Cruz, I have only seen her previously in the Spanish language film, 'All About My Mother' and I wasn't sure how she would handle the English, but she pulls it off with aplomb. Elsewhere is Cameron Diaz, whom is simply stunning, but when isn't she! Jason Lee plays Cruises best friend. A staple of Kevin Smith movies, Lee is a hidden gem that I hope goes on to be huge. Kurt Russell, what can I say, he is perfect. Kurt seems to have lost his way of late, starring in poor action/sc-fi movies, but this film shows that he is at his best when he is given good material to chew on. I haven't seen the original movie 'Open Your Eye's' that Vanilla Sky was based on (It also starred Penelope Cruz), but I think it will have a hard time being better than this. I will see it however, as I am interested to see the original spin on the story. Crowe has crafted an absolutely breathtaking movie that is almost Lynchian in it's surrealism. One of the finest movies of 2001. Highly recommended.

9/10 for Vanilla Sky. Poster Quote - I love vanilla!