Parents' Guide to

Vanilla Sky

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Some surface appeal, but ultimately vacant.

Movie R 2001 136 minutes
Vanilla Sky Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 15+

Based on 4 parent reviews

gerizekalu
gerizekalu Adult
October 14, 2014
age 16+

Smarter than the average bear.

This movie is not good if you can't pay attention. It will require a full commitment of the entire running time, or else, like the other reviews, you won't understand what is actually going on. It is a fantastic movie, with challenging themes that incorporate lucid dreaming into the plot. If you have any family members interested in that concept, watch it first, then if you approve of the mature content, give it a go!
bigisaac20
bigisaac20 Adult
July 20, 2020
age 16+

See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

VANILLA SKY is a trippy mind game movie about a rich, successful, handsome, but superficial man named David (Tom Cruise), whose life turns upside down when he meets a woman who stirs him (because she is "guileless"). But then he must pay the price for his casual negligence. A woman becomes jealous, and drives them both off an embankment. She is killed, and he is badly hurt and disfigured. The life he took for granted is shattered. At this point, a fairly conventional narrative is shattered, like David's arm and his face. It becomes impossible to say much more about it without spoiling the surprises. David tries to piece together his story and we do the same, though sometimes based on conflicting information.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (8 ):

Vanilla Sky has a lot of surface appeal, but at its core it is as vacant as the story's main character. It tries to be a sort of Sixth Sense with sex. Like Cast Away, this is something of a vanity production. I suspect that Tom Hanks created the ultimate acting exercise for himself, based on what he feared most – being separated from his family. Cruise, who also produced this movie by purchasing the rights to the original, Spanish-language version, has done the same here. He may have chosen what he fears most – losing his looks and easy grace, losing his knack for owning the room. And, like Hanks, he selected a story that provides the opportunity for tour-de-force acting. In many scenes, Cruise's famous face is covered with a latex mask, leaving him only his body and his eyes to convey all of the character's emotions.

Cruise works hard and makes some arresting choices. Cameron Diaz turns in a terrific performance and Tilda Swinton is excellent in a brief role as an executive. But Kurt Russell seems a little lost as a therapist, and Penelope Cruz, repeating her role from the original, says her lines as though she is not really fluent in English yet.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why David feels unsatisfied at the beginning of the movie, and whether he should have made a pass at the woman his best friend brought to a party. How much of the world around us do we control? How much would you like to control? If given the choice presented to David at the end of the movie, what would you choose?

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