Vanilla Sky Discussion -Spoilers-

[beastieben21]

Howdy Kids,
Well, i saw the film on Friday, and after what seemed like 8 hours in the theater, I emerged, kinda confused, but I really enjoyed the film, and it was nice knowing that studios can still make movies that are out of the ordinary. There were many themes present, some I probably didn't pick up on, so you can feel free to discuss that and maybe help me out. I gathered that either A- at the end he woke up and it was a dream or B- it did really happen, and that was just him going back to earth. I mean, thats pretty typical, but oh well. One thing I did dislike was that there werent any "clues" about like, the Dylan record or the
To Kill A Mockingbird reference. Had he said one time "oh, I love To Kill A Mockingbird, or I love this Dylan cd" we would have had a clue about it, it just seemed to come out of left field. Well, just putting in my 2 cents, feel free to comment.

[SteveSzyk]

***SPOILERS GALORE***

I loved it, and I thought the ending pretty much summed everything up. I wasn't to confused at all. Here's what I think: Everything up to the scene where he passed out on the pavement is "real". In "real" life he didn't walk home with Sofia, he walked home alone, as we find out in the end. When in "real" life he learned of L.E., he signed the contract, and for a little extra more, he got the "LUCID-DREAM" package. What that means, is while he is frozen, he can live a fake life until he is unfrozen, rather than just be "dead." In his "fake" life, he an Sofia grow close, his face get's fixed, and everything is going pretty well. Until his dream turns into a nightmare. Then in his "fake" life, he learns about L.E., and then is told about what exactly happened to him. When he gets to teh top of the building, and he jumps off, he is waking up from his dream, and getting unfrozen, to live his "real" life again.

[This message has been edited by SteveSzyk (edited 12-17-2001).]

[Irene Manor]

Did you all see JACOB'S LADDER?

I would say VS is to Jacob's Ladder what Election is to Rushmore.

[ColinM]

How similar is Vanilla Sky to the original, Abre Los Dios? Which is better?

Please warn me before putting spoilers for Abre Los Dios.

I hated Vanilla Sky (4/10), by the way.

[SubMethod]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SteveSzyk:
***SPOILERS GALORE***

I loved it, and I thought the ending pretty much summed everything up. I wasn't to confused at all. Here's what I think: Everything up to the scene where he passed out on the pavement is "real". In "real" life he didn't walk home with Sofia, he walked home alone, as we find out in the end. When in "real" life he learned of L.E., he signed the contract, and for a little extra more, he got the "LUCID-DREAM" package. What that means, is while he is frozen, he can live a fake life until he is unfrozen, rather than just be "dead." In his "fake" life, he an Sofia grow close, his face get's fixed, and everything is going pretty well. Until his dream turns into a nightmare. Then in his "fake" life, he learns about L.E., and then is told about what exactly happened to him. When he gets to teh top of the building, and he jumps off, he is waking up from his dream, and getting unfrozen, to live his "real" life again.

</font>

I completely agree with you. But, I still don't understand why if he was in control of his dream; why did he turn it into a nightmare? Do you think there was a time-limit on his "Lucid Dream" and maybe LE did it to him, and it wasn't just a "glitch"? What do you think? Also, did anybody else notice the beating noise that was going on during the part of the movie when he was in his "dream"? While he was in the dream it was very irregular and then in the end when he finds out everything it becomes regular like a heartbeat. Did anybody else notice this?

Anyways I give this a 9/10. And this is defenitely the best December movie so far.

[This message has been edited by SubMethod (edited 12-17-2001).]

[This message has been edited by SubMethod (edited 12-18-2001).]

[This message has been edited by SubMethod (edited 12-18-2001).]

[suntzu]

*************SPOILER*************


In my own personal opinion, the entire movie was a dream. At the begining of the movie when Cruise wakes up, he is actually falling asleep. Everything happens. Cruise wakes up at the very end of the movie, while what sounds like Diaz saying "Open Your Eyes".

If everything in the movie actually happened, why would Diaz, be talking to Cruise in the final moments of the film?

Overall, I loved the movie. It is personally one of the best films I have seen this year. I just wish it would recieve more praise.

[Irene Manor]

******POSSIBLE SPOILERS********

And when she is saying "Open your eyes" at the beginning, she is recording the message!?

That's a cool theory. I don't think this is a movie with a *right answer to it's plot.

[SteveSzyk]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ColinM:
How similar is Vanilla Sky to the original, Abre Los Dios? Which is better?

Please warn me before putting spoilers for Abre Los Dios.

I hated Vanilla Sky (4/10), by the way.</font>

Abre Los Ojos is a better film. Vanilla Sky is pretty much exactly the same.

[Narst]

The first and last line of Vanilla Sky is undoubtably Penelope Cruz saying "open your eyes."

[italia2002]

I agree with most theories, but the problem with Cruise "just waking up" was that he died of an overdose. now did he really die or was it part of Lucid Dreams. If he really died, then he technically cant come back to life. my guess is that if he died, the "real world" was perhaps death, or maybe he got a chance to start over in his dream

[suntzu]

*********Spoiler***********

In my opinion, basically the entire movie was a dream. At the begining of the movie he is in bed. He seems to be waking up to the alarm, but is actually begining his dream. At the end of the movie, when he hears the "open your eyes" voice, he is actually waking up. I don't think any of the L.E. Lucid Dream stuff even happened along with almost everything else. That's just my opinion. There probably is no true answer, but that seems to be the only thing that makes any sense. Overall, I think it is the best movie I have seen all year and I've seen quite a bit. BTW Just saw The Royal Tenenbaums at Phipps in Atlanta. Great Movie. Very, very funny, but extremely dark in some moments.

[Irene Manor]

SPOILERS!!!!


I really like the whole idea that he was sleeping all along. The Lucid Dream stuff was too silly and like TOTAL RECALL for me.


I'll say it one more time: Jacob's Ladder, man. Jacob's Ladder. Complete with confusion over love interest, blank faces, waking and sleeping, disabiling injuries, and, my favorite:

In Jacob's Ladder he is wheeled into an ER. The camera is from his POV and he says santa mugged him, and we see the doctors looking down like, "Uh... What's with this guy?"

In VS, he is wheeled into an ER. The camera is from his POV and he sings WHAT IF GOD WAS ONE OF US, and we see the doctors looking down like, "Uh... What's with this guy?"

[Chilly721]

*****SPOILERS*****

I don't really think there are right & wrong answers to the movie, but here are my thoughts:

One possibility is that he was frozen throughout the whole movie. The very first line of the movie is Sophia saying "Open your eyes." How is this possible since he didn't meet her yet? Well, I think the movie was him reenacting his perception of what happened in real life during his lucid dream state. Does everyone understand what I am saying here? The things already happened to him before, but now he was reenacting them in his mind during his frozen state.

One thing that stuck me as strange...if he was able to choose a moment in real life where his lucid dream started, why would he choose waking up drunk in the street? I would have thought he would picked the moment he left Sophia's apartment for the first time. That way he wouldn't get in the car with Diaz.

I am already looking forward to a Director's commentary on this dvd. I'm very curious to Crowe's interpretation of the film.

[ICFBC2001]

No spoiler warning here, folks. Says so in the subject line, so why should I bother including another here? http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

The Brian Taylor Theory of "Vanilla Sky," in Shorthand™*:

1) The whole bloody film -- first bit of aural distortion and Penélope Cruz's utterance of "Open your eyes" through to the climactic leap -- is a Lucid Dream, save the final shot of David Aames opening his eyes. That's in the Life Extension (or Oasis Project -- and THERE's a foreboding retitling for you, rife with all kinds of sinister undertones) storage center.

2) The whole convoluted storyline is further confused when tech support tries to explain the problem. Like that's never happened before. It's fairly safe to say, I think, that the date of splice given by Ventura is highly suspect, considering both its source and what we know of the man "dreaming" the Dream, and that's not even taking into consideration some of what Rebecca Dearborn's commercial (a truly funny and far too believable moment, I'm afraid) pitch of Lucid Dream says.

3) If you want to get all metaphorical and "Deep" about the film, I personally believe it's really about Man trying to fit in at the dawn of 21st century, looking ahead at the prospects of more advanced computer and medical technologies, shifting meanings behind sex and love, and ever more cutthroat business dealings.

I always could bullshit symbolism and meaning with the best of 'em... Like that time I tried to liken the Mario Brothers to Mob enforcers, and halfway succeeded. But I digress. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

4) I should probably shut up and watch giant holes get blown in these theories now, eh? Besides, I'm tired, and I think I ought to write a short review for Series 7 before too much more time goes by.

--Brian

===
*Shorthand: As in, absolutely no proof at all, although I must admit that if called upon I can provide paragraphs worth of conjecture, speculation, and even some genuine evidence from the film itself to support it.

[snootch]

I just have to say that I loved this movie...easily makes my list of the top 5 movies of the year. What really did it for me was that it made me think all the way through. The 'clues' that they sprinkled throughout were really cool - like did you notice how what was playing on the television in the prison scenes gave you a hint at what was really going on? Very cool...going to have to check it out again this weekend.

[Irene Manor]

Why I like the entire concept that the all of the film is a dream:

The L.E. thing was the only part of the movie that is impossible. It doesn't make sense for that to be the answer to the movie. It's like saying babies come from storks.

So I say.


[This message has been edited by Irene Manor (edited 12-19-2001).]

[Champ]

Does the fact that he woke at the end with an undamaged face mean it was a dream. They couldn't repair his face while he was in a frozen state. That was my take....Comments?

[Narst]

I thought that you could only see his eye at the end of the movie not showing whether his face was still disfigured or not.

[Emo]

well one of the disfigurements was his right eye so even if they just showed his eyes you'd still know
And anyway I think the car crash really did happen cause he was just living a normal life up to that point that was completely regular but after he woke up on the pavement he walked down the street and i noticed the Vanilla Sky and I even said to my friend" hey that sky looks exactly liek that Monet painting, whats up with that" and then Cruise says the doctors were all of a sudden super nice and decided to "fix him" so I kinda knew that it wasn't reality form that point on
And he picked that particular start to his LD because if he had just wanted everythign to be normal he'd be happy but instead he chose to stil have a disfigured face for a bit for 2 reasons - to have Sofia ocme back to him on the street despite his face and to have the doctors find a way to fix it - that way he'd not only be happy but completely exatic because he'd have a girl who loves him no matter what and he'd get rid of a terrible problem that would make him appreciate his normal appearance even more

[rugby12]

Another thought...

Maybe near accident with the tractor trailer, which occurs in the first few scenes, really did occur...

Jason Lee's character says "I just saw your life flash before my eyes", which is rather an odd thing to say.

Later, Cruise claims that they can't go to the doctor appointment because the Mustang is still in the shop (why would his Mustang be in the shop?)...May be a little far fetched, but its better than the easy way out ending of a lucid dream being the explanation for everything.

[Jackal320155]

Vanilla Sky is a beautiful movie. it is one of the greatest movies of all time. It is definitly in my top 10 movies of all time. Question : There is a scene in the movie in which Phenelope is walking away from Tom and a flash moment comes of Tom in bed with an airplane, he is holding it and slowly making it fall to the bed. The question is this represents something and I would like to know opinions on what it means. His losing Phenelope represents a plane crashing down. maybe it represents something bigger. WHo knows. The end. COME ON PEOPLE....Notice. At the end the eye that opens is not the disfigurd eye. And notice the lighting. Go see the movie again if you need to....I'm going to see it a 3rd time tomorrow. The lighting is too bright for his bedroom. it is the lighting of a operating table and a large bright light over him. So 99% sure it wasnt a dream...he was just frozen.

[Spirito]

If you dug Memento and the great twists and turns in that movie then you'll love Vanilla Sky!

This was a great movie that was well directed and had some great acting. Tom Cruise proved once again why he is the number one actor of this generation.

*Spoilers:
Tom Cruise's dad leaves him this giant magazine corporation to run after his death. Cruise now has 51% of the company and a board of 7 referred to by Cruise as the 7 dwarfs has the other 49% of the company. Cruise plays the typical hot shot cocky character floating through life on his charm, killer smile and good looks. (also see Jerry Mcguire, Cocktail, Rainman, shall I go on?..) until he scorn lover played by Cameron Dias changes his life forever.

New real life love interest Penelope Cruz meets Tom at a party at his house and from the moment Cruise laid eyes on her he felt love for the first time. The two spend a evening together exchanging drawings of each other and having friendly conversation until early morning when they share a special moment and kiss. As Cruise leaves he runs into Dias who is stalking Cruise's character. (Think Fatal Attraction) Cruise gets into Dias's car and she unloads on him with a verbal assault on how you don't sleep with somebody and give your body to somebody if you don't love them and that sex meant something to her and that she loved Cruise. The car ride takes a turn for the worse when Dias steers the car off a bridge into a cement wall below. Dias dies and Cruise is left horribly disfigured in his face.

At this point the movie really takes off and gets somewhat confusing until the very end when all the pieces of the puzzle come into focus.

Cruise is now in a holding cell wearing a mask to hide his face being interviewed by Kurt Russell (shrink) about a murder Cruise's character committed.

Cruise now begins to tell the story about after his car accident and how he had facial reconstructive surgery to repaid some of the damage but was still left disfigured. Cruise tells of his reemergence back into society and his longing for Sofia (Cruz's character) Cruise and Cruz meet up and have a date that goes bad. At the end of the date Cruise is left broken hearted, drunk face down on the streets. When he awakes in the morning Cruz's character is there to comfort him and takes him into her arms and says she'll be there for him and that she wants to be with him. For the next 30 to 45 mins they are a happy couple and Cruise under goes a miracle surgery and has his face totally fixed. Cutting now towards the end of the movie Cruise begins to have a break down and see Dias's character again and again. Cruise begins to think Cruz is Dias and ties her up and beats her. Skip a little more into the movie and Cruise and Cruz are together again and trying to move on from his previous beating of her during his mental breakdown but this time Cruise again sees Cruz as Dias and kills her by suffocating her face with a pillow.

*Sorry for no character names

Cruise is now back in his holding cell telling the story to Russell who said he would try and get Cruise off on temporary insanity. Russell said he cared for Cruise like a son and wished there was more to the story, some sorta key to lock the rest of the puzzle. Cruise then sees a TV commercial for a company called LE. (Life Extension)

Cruise and Russell pay a visit to LE and find out it is a company that freezes bodies so they can live forever, be brought back to life at a later time or have a lucid dream which is a dream you have after you die that goes on forever in which you paint your own reality and can have anything you want. Russell asks Cruise if he signed up for this and suddenly things start to come into focus. The woman in the office at LE shows Cruise and Russell a video on Lucid Dreams and in the video it says 'if ever a problem in your dream tech support will appear and help you' the video shows who is tech support and he is a character seen throughout the middle of the movie. (tech support is this somewhat creepy, somewhat nerdy yet in a way safe and comforting looking man)

Cruise realizes ever thing is a dream and runs out of the office screaming "Tech Support!" A elevator opens and there is tech support (the man) and Cruise enters the elevator with him and explains it all.

Cruise was in a car accident and survived and did have one date with Cruz where he was left drunk and heart broken in the streets but instead of Cruz being there in the morning to wake him up and fall in love with him Cruise returned to his home and went into a state of depression. He found LE on the Internet and signed up with them for a plan called Lucid Dreaming. Cruise then kills himself with a over dose of pills and a week later LE gets his body and freezes him and he began his Lucid Dream state at the part in life when he was left but Cruz in the streets after their date. Nothing was real from the point in the movie where he woke up in the streets to Cruz. Cruise's dream turned into a nightmare and could now be repaired. Tech Support gave him the chance to go back to the dream world with Cruz or any other person he wanted and be whatever he wanted to be or be brought back to life. Cruise chooses life.

I'm missing allot but to tell it all I'd need to type the script verbatim. All in all this movie was a solid 9 out of 10 and I would highly recommend going to see it.

[Jackal320155]

Just saw it for my 3rd time. Going for my 4th tomorrow to watch the television screens during the prision scenes. Apparently important stuff is palying on them. I notcied something new I'm going to pay attention to tomorrow. In one scene we hear this womans voice saying numbers...(when Sophia begins to change) I believe these numbers are the numbers on the side of David's freeze chamber....it shows the numbers in the end....I'm going to see for sure tomorrow. At the end...it is not a dream people!!!!....The voice at the end is neither Cameron Diaz (Julie) or Phenelope Cruz (Sophia)....the voice is a different woman....she says "Relax"....the bright light above David....you can definitly tell its a room in like a place like LE after he comes form being frozen. Duh people. Go see it again and pay closer attention.

[sleekproductions]

I just saw this movie with my friend, and we both loved it. I give it a 9/10 and he gives it a 8/10. Probably because I am a bigger movie fan than he is and apreciated its beauty more. We both walked out "dizzy." What a completly amazing mind fuck of a movie.

score for the cast and director.

Still Not Better Than LOTR though!

[wenbanb]

Can anyone explain why Penelope Cruz's voice is on the alarm clock in the beginning of the movie? It obviously sounds very, very much like her. This has to have been done for a reason.
Either:
1. It is foreshadowing. Aaames' memory is imperfect (the whole story occurs in his mind, just the pre-sleeping on the street scene is his memory of real life and the post is his dream) and he is just manifesting his nightmarish tendancy to mis-identify cruz/diaz.
2. It demonstrates that the entire movie was a dream (save *possibly* the last awakening scene). If so, everything is called into question. Perhaps Cruise was never really disfigured at all, it is just symbolic of deeper emotional issues he houses. Perhaps the "tech support" doesn't really exist at all. I mean, the whole notion of this "lucid dream", the ability of the company to revive him after he kills himself, the dog on conan, its all pretty far-fetched for a movie that places itself in the present. This could easily be indicative of the whole thing being a fantasy/dream. Assume he has been dreaming the whole time, but his dream has a penchant for turning into nightmare. He finds and falls in love with Cruz, only to have his face disfigured. His mind then corrects for this by changing the story line (this is the waking up on the pavement vanilla sky background scene) only to see his dream once again veer into nightmare as he loses the ability to differentiate cruz from diaz. Then his mind injects the tech support story line to correct the course. Him waking up could just be more dream.
Like I said, option 2 opens space for some fairly radical interpretations.

[thompsoncory]

I saw Vanilla Sky a few days ago and I am still thinking about that movie. It was so confusing that half the time I didn't understand what was going on, but the ending spelled it out. I thought Vanilla Sky was decent (6/10), but I got too confused throughout the movie, especially when ((MINOR SPOILERS)) Sofia started turning into Julie ((END MINOR SPOILERS)).

[Jackal320155]

SPOLIERS (BEWARE)
I've read through this discussion topics and some of them are veyr interesting. Some people are wondering why he picked that one moment (waking up drunk) to be his splice. People wonder why he didnt pick leaving Sofia's apartment as his "splice." The reason this is his splice is because when he leave Sofia's apartment he hasnt signed the contract with LE yet...he only knows of them through that one commercial. So he signs the contract after the accident, and then his splice is on the pavement. Many people are also wondering "what in the f*ck was the splice??!?!" The splice is where he chooses his "splitting of life". His LucidDream (LucidDream is one word people, not two...look at the brochure in the movie...just figured I would point that out)...anyways...his LucidDream and his "real life" are going on at the same time....in his real life he dies and 150 years pass until he gets on that elevator again...what i believe is that 150 years pass on the elevator (hence the tech support guy says so, and only 1 or 2 days have passed in the movie in his real life and the elevator is going up so high...taller than any building and its going up representing his life going by him...)...so the "splice" is the splitting between his real life and his LucidDream....both are going on at the same time...he dies in real life...is frozen...and his LucidDream continues. Now down to a question even I ponder. LE (Life Extension) is based in Ohio. Some reference to it being in Ohio. Now the strange part is they go in the elevator and reach the roof. In the background the Twin Towers are in the background. Why are they in the background. Last time I checked they were in New York. Maybe the freezing center is in Ohio and the business building is in New York. Who knows. Overall great movie....10/10...5 stars...2 thumbs up. Absolutely great.

[Jackal320155]

Quick Note: In the beginning before we go into the room you can hear "Abre Los Ojos" which means "Open Your Eyes"...some people didnt pick up on this reference...Just making that little note.

[bob]

I didn't really like the flick that much(except for Jason Lee's kickass performance), but my opinion is that it was all a dream, and in the end he was just waking up. I mean, lucid dream? how can you think that was real.
P.S. two best sequences of the film: 1. very opening, when cruise is all alone in times square.2. Him running crazily through the lucid dream building, screaming "tech support" while "Good Vibrations" was playing.classic.

[APzombie]

it was kind of confusing until the end, which sumed up everything. But it is the last second that questioned me...

^^^SPOILERS^^^

did he dream it all, and was the voice at the end just his recording?

Or did he wake up from his comma?

The great thing about it is that no one can give a smart ass answer because its left for the viewer to decide.

[APzombie]

oh yeah, I loved the cameo by Steven Speilburg in it! With his only line being "Happy Birthday you son of a bitch!"

[Dark Prince]

The ending was the same type as from Fight Club when you think about it.

[BDuB19]

Vanilla Sky was a movie I went to see because it looked interesting, but I walked out feeling damn good. It had twists, turns and kept me entertained the whole time. Props to Cruise who did an amazing job with his character. I really felt for the guy. Also, Cameron Diaz did amazing as the maniac bad girl in this film. The Cruise/Cruz love interest thing that was going on in the movie made me hate Cameron Diaz' character and that left me more confused and angry when she appears later on in the film when you think she's long gone. I just love the twists and the cool ending. Any film that makes you leave the theater thinking about it for the next day or two is definetly my kind of movie. It was entertaining, cool ending and it makes you think about life. ------ 10/10 !!

[Danreiter]

The movie is all a dream. Otherwise, I don't see the point of having an eye (Tom Cruise's) opening at the last frame while someone says "Open Your Eyes." And with what I just said, I'd also have to say that this movie takes the easy way out with its twenty-minute long dream explanation, and it's almost as if Cameron Crowe needed an excuse for his wannabe experimental, artsy, trying to hard to be an important Oscar film - film. The movie is nothing short of true scanty and meager filmmaking with obvious references to the greater "Play Misty For Me" and "Fatal Attraction." Cameron Crowe's dreadfully obvious Oscar-movie ambitions are almost too painful to watch and I'd have more respect for the guy if he'd just perform sexual favors for all of the members of the Academy and get it over with, rather than waste the public's hard-earned money on one painfully blatant and pretentious movie after another.

[This message has been edited by Danreiter (edited 01-05-2002).]

[pennywise46]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Spirito:
*Spoilers:
Tom Cruise's dad leaves him this giant magazine corporation to run after his death. Cruise now has 51% of the company and a board of 7 referred to by Cruise as the 7 dwarfs has the other 49% of the company. Cruise plays the typical hot shot cocky character floating through life on his charm, killer smile and good looks. (also see Jerry Mcguire, Cocktail, Rainman, shall I go on?..) until he scorn lover played by Cameron Dias changes his life forever.

New real life love interest Penelope Cruz meets Tom at a party at his house and from the moment Cruise laid eyes on her he felt love for the first time. The two spend a evening together exchanging drawings of each other and having friendly conversation until early morning when they share a special moment and kiss. As Cruise leaves he runs into Dias who is stalking Cruise's character. (Think Fatal Attraction) Cruise gets into Dias's car and she unloads on him with a verbal assault on how you don't sleep with somebody and give your body to somebody if you don't love them and that sex meant something to her and that she loved Cruise. The car ride takes a turn for the worse when Dias steers the car off a bridge into a cement wall below. Dias dies and Cruise is left horribly disfigured in his face.

At this point the movie really takes off and gets somewhat confusing until the very end when all the pieces of the puzzle come into focus.

Cruise is now in a holding cell wearing a mask to hide his face being interviewed by Kurt Russell (shrink) about a murder Cruise's character committed.

Cruise now begins to tell the story about after his car accident and how he had facial reconstructive surgery to repaid some of the damage but was still left disfigured. Cruise tells of his reemergence back into society and his longing for Sofia (Cruz's character) Cruise and Cruz meet up and have a date that goes bad. At the end of the date Cruise is left broken hearted, drunk face down on the streets. When he awakes in the morning Cruz's character is there to comfort him and takes him into her arms and says she'll be there for him and that she wants to be with him. For the next 30 to 45 mins they are a happy couple and Cruise under goes a miracle surgery and has his face totally fixed. Cutting now towards the end of the movie Cruise begins to have a break down and see Dias's character again and again. Cruise begins to think Cruz is Dias and ties her up and beats her. Skip a little more into the movie and Cruise and Cruz are together again and trying to move on from his previous beating of her during his mental breakdown but this time Cruise again sees Cruz as Dias and kills her by suffocating her face with a pillow.

*Sorry for no character names

Cruise is now back in his holding cell telling the story to Russell who said he would try and get Cruise off on temporary insanity. Russell said he cared for Cruise like a son and wished there was more to the story, some sorta key to lock the rest of the puzzle. Cruise then sees a TV commercial for a company called LE. (Life Extension)

Cruise and Russell pay a visit to LE and find out it is a company that freezes bodies so they can live forever, be brought back to life at a later time or have a lucid dream which is a dream you have after you die that goes on forever in which you paint your own reality and can have anything you want. Russell asks Cruise if he signed up for this and suddenly things start to come into focus. The woman in the office at LE shows Cruise and Russell a video on Lucid Dreams and in the video it says 'if ever a problem in your dream tech support will appear and help you' the video shows who is tech support and he is a character seen throughout the middle of the movie. (tech support is this somewhat creepy, somewhat nerdy yet in a way safe and comforting looking man)

Cruise realizes ever thing is a (LUCID) dream and runs out of the office screaming "Tech Support!" A elevator opens and there is tech support (the man) and Cruise enters the elevator with him and explains it all.

Cruise was in a car accident and survived and did have one date with Cruz where he was left drunk and heart broken in the streets but instead of Cruz being there in the morning to wake him up and fall in love with him Cruise returned to his home and went into a state of depression. He found LE on the Internet and signed up with them for a plan called Lucid Dreaming. Cruise then kills himself with a over dose of pills and a week later LE gets his body and freezes him and he began his Lucid Dream state at the part in life when he was left but Cruz in the streets after their date. Nothing was real from the point in the movie where he woke up in the streets to Cruz. Cruise's dream turned into a nightmare and could now be repaired. Tech Support gave him the chance to go back to the dream world with Cruz or any other person he wanted and be whatever he wanted to be or be brought back to life. Cruise chooses life. </font>

I just saw Vanilla Sky last night and stumbled upon this thread. If anyone else just saw this as it came out on video, and wants to try to explain all the plot twists go right ahead.

I agree with Spirito's explanation (above), except that when David(Tom Cruise) chooses life, he wakes up and hears Sophia(Penelope Cruz)'s voice. This would not be possible be as it had said earlier in the movie that David had been cryogenically frozen in a 'lucid dream' state of existence for over 150 years. Because 150 years went by, Sophia would have been dead. So what I think is that everything from the scene where he gets into the car with Julie(Cameron Diaz) until the moment he wakes up at the end was all a nightmare David had. All that had happened before he went to sleep was he had his party, and met Sophia. Sometime soon after he had the nightmare. He never was actually in a car wreck, never became disfigured, never died or became frozen, and never went into a 'lucid dream'. Another reason I think it is a dream, is simply that all the scenes beginning with the car crash and after have a very nightmarish feeling. Just like in a nightmare David's mind gets caught in reoccuring patterns of thought, and some things just are not real, such as the Lucid Dream cryogenic sleep. It does not really exist.

[idealdiscountdude]

Since Vanilla Sky is now on video, I'm gonna move this to the General Movie Talk Forum.............