Review of Vanilla Sky (2001) by Noah E — 30 Jul 2010

This film tried so hard to juggle so many knives at the same time, and ended up dropping them all over itself. Half the movie is spent setting up the plot that, in the end, is not explained or clarified in anywhere near enough detail for the spectacular "moment of realization" the director thought the viewer should have.

While Vanilla Sky presents an interesting idea, the overall cloudiness of the story and connections between characters and sub-plots leaves more wanting than known. With a plot that includes everything from *SPOILER ALERT!* a dead, rich father figure, a stalker-ish girl, suicide/homicide attempt, cryogenics, and Matrix-esque sort of twist, Vanilla Sky is a heartfelt attempt at a deep psychological thriller that is just one too many ingredients to form anything above average.

Although the underlying concept is brilliant, if not the relatively same blueprint used in The Matrix, there is just not enough explanation or connection to redeem an overall average mixture of too many elements.