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8th Feb '13 11:07:16 PM erforce

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[[quoteright:235:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vsky_5713.jpg]]

Vanilla Sky is a 2001 psychological thriller starring TomCruise, and adapted and directed by Cameron Crowe. It is a close remake of the original Spanish ''Open Your Eyes'' (Abre Los Ojos), with the interesting fact that PenelopeCruz played the same character in both movies.

David Aames (TomCruise) tells the story from a prison cell to his psychiatrist, Curtis, while wearing a prosthetic mask he refuses to take off: David was a MillionairePlayboy who inherited a publishing company after the death of his father. He met Sofia (PenelopeCruz). As they became instantly attracted to each other, he brushed aside his [[FriendsWithBenefits "fuck buddy"]], Julianna (CameronDiaz). When Julianna heard of this, she tried to kill herself [[TakingYouWithMe and David]] in a car accident. She died but David survived with a disfigured face. He is haunted by increasingly bizarre occurrences.

With all that said and done, please just watch the movie before going any further. '''Major spoilers ahead.'''

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!!Tropes related to the film:

* ArcWords: "Open Your Eyes."
** "I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats."
** "Every passing minute is a another chance to turn it all around."
** "What is happiness to you, David?"
* AlienSky: The sky is the same milky orange with white clouds [[spoiler:as the sky in David's mother's favorite painting, so his subconscious made it that color all the time.]]
* AmbiguousEnding: WordOfGod says the ending can be interpreted in five different ways (though there are doubtless more):
** Everything [[spoiler: tech support]] says is true.
** The entire film is a dream.
** Everything after the car accident is David's dream while in a coma.
** The entire film is the plot of Brian's book.
** Everything after the car accident is a hallucination caused by David's medication.
* AsHimself: ConanOBrien makes a quick cameo. Spielberg's cameo might also be an example of this.
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:The ending explains that everything that has occurred after the nightclub. In real life, after that night, he signed a contract with a company that preserves its clients' bodies after death and keeps their brain waves active in lifelike virtual reality dreams, and then committed suicide. The bizarre occurrences are explained as glitches in the program. In the end, he decides to wake up from the dream program.]]
* BerserkButton: Do NOT have the audacity to call an obvious mask, a "prosthetic shield"...
--> '''Dr Pomeranz:''': It's a helpful unit.
--> '''David:''': Good. Because, for a minute there, I thought we were talking about a FUCKING MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASK!!!
* BettyAndVeronica: Subverted - David makes it clear from the very beginning that he has no real interest in Julianna (the "Veronica" of the two) and is really just using her for casual sex.
* BilingualBonus: The first words spoken in the film are "abre los ojos", Spanish for "open your eyes", which doubles as a reference to the original film.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Because it was AllJustADream, all the scenes after the nightclub didn't really happen. David never did get Sofia in the end and he's still disfigured. Then he decides to return to the real world, set far into the future where they can fix his face and he may even have the chance to find Sofia "in another life." Additionally, he will probably keep and cherish the dream memories of Sofia. Altogether, an ending which leaves you hopeful.]]
** He's also [[spoiler:flat broke, not having bothered to provide for himself]].
* BrokenMasquerade: Of the [[spoiler:Artificial Realm]] variety.
* TheCameo: Creator/StevenSpielberg pops in for a minute at David's party.
* ChekhovsGunman: Benny, the dog.
* ClimacticElevatorRide: Tom Cruise's character meets with [[spoiler:"Tech Support"]], who proceeds to explain what exactly's been happening to him throughout the film. To drive it home, the elevator ride is [[spoiler:impossibly long, making it clear that Cruise is in a dreamworld]].
* CoitusUninterruptus
* CuckooNest
* DaylightHorror: The opening dream sequence.
* [[spoiler: DreamWithinADream :]] [[spoiler: David has several dreams during the movie.]]
** And in the end, we cannot say for sure that [[spoiler: David has waken up]]. After all, he [[spoiler: wakes with Sofia telling him to "open his eyes" - and we didn't see him hit the ground (he is terrified about the impact, not about the heights). Maybe the entire movie was just the tech support fixing the glitch?]]
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: A brief sequence when Brian chases after Sofia.
* DrivenToSuicide: Julianna [[spoiler: and David.]]
* [[spoiler:DyingDream]]
* EthicalSlut: Here seen working better in theory then in a reality where people are lying to themselves.
* ForeignRemake: Of the Spanish film ''Abre Los Ojos''. The director of that film was credited as a producer and, as mentioned, Penelope Cruz played the same character in both films. Nearly every scene is identical as well, making this a closer remake than most examples.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Ellie".
** Fun drinking game: count how many times someone mentions [[spoiler: dreams or nightmares]], or admonishes David to [[spoiler: wake up]].
* FreezeFrameBonus: It's a lot easier to catch a lot of the foreshadowing with the "pause" button on your remote.
* FriendsWithBenefits: David has a "Fuck Buddy" relationship with Julianna. Julianna takes things a little more seriously and when she finds out the true nature of the relationship, it doesn't end well.
* FunWithAcronyms : Ellie for L.E.
* GainaxEnding
* GenreBusting: Psychological thriller? Romantic drama? Science fiction?
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Even the "good" people in the movie like Brian and Sofia make morally questionable decisions: Brian tells Julie that she's David's fuckbuddy, for instance, and Sofia's (admittedly understandable) abandoning of a David very clearly in need of help. Similarly, even the "bad" people are sympathetic and mostly mean well: Julie's suffering LoveMakesYouEvil more than she's actually a villain.
* {{Homage}}: David is a fan of French new wave films, which [[spoiler: later influenced the characters and situations he creates within the lucid dream]]. In reference to this, jump cuts reminiscent of Godard films pop up here and there.
* HowWeGotHere: The beginning is told from David to Curtis.
* HumanPopsicle
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
--> [[spoiler: '''Ventura''' [pointing towards the camera]: Your panel of observers are waiting for you to choose.]]
--> [[spoiler: '''David''': *looks towards the camera*]]
** [[spoiler: The "splice", when David's "real" life ends and his lucid dream begins, happens at almost exactly the halfway point of the film.]]
* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: Well, TheReveal is like this to a phrase said much, much earlier.]]
--> '''David''': My dreams are a cruel joke. They taunt me. Even in my dreams I'm an idiot... who knows he's about to wake up to reality. If I could only avoid sleep. But I can't. I try to tell myself what to dream. I try to dream that I am flying. Something free. It never works...
** One that could be interpreted as either this or a MeaningfulEcho: "I'll see you in another life, when we are both cats."
* LenoDevice: Benny the dog and his owner get interviewed by ConanOBrien.
* LoveAtFirstSight: David and Sofia more or less fall in love with each other after just one meeting.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Sofia could be interpreted as such.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The TwistEnding still leaves ''just'' enough room for this trope to fit.
* MeaningfulEcho: "Red dress...strappy shoes...the saddest girl to ever hold a martini."
* MillionairePlayboy: David.
* MindScrew: Most of the second half up to TheReveal.
* [[spoiler: MyGreatestSecondChance :]] Maybe?
* NonIndicativeName: The service Life Extension offers is called "Lucid Dream". Rather misleading considering that real-life lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is ''aware'' that he or she is dreaming.
* NothingIsScarier: The opening dream sequence. Seeing Times Square completely empty rivals seeing [[Film/TwentyEightDaysLater London completely abandoned]] just a year later for creepiness.
* PropertyOfLove: Brutally defied - In her heart Julianna truly belongs to David, and they both know it. Yet they pretend to simply be [[EthicalSlut friends who have fun together]], and it works just fine... [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Until it doesn't]].
* RealityWarper: [[spoiler: David can manipulate the reality of his lucid dream at will.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler: The Seven Dwarves.]]
* ReferenceOverdosed: According to WordOfGod, there are 429 pop-culture references in the film, 428 of which were intentional. Bizarrely, many of these references actually directly influence the plot: [[spoiler: tech support explains that many of the characters and situations he created in his lucid dream were derived from the popular culture he experienced when younger]].
* RemakeCameo: As noted above, Penelope Cruz plays the same character she did in the original film. Additionally, the first words spoken in the film are "abre los ojos", the title of the original.
* ShakyCam: Handheld cameras are used more and more frequently as David's mental state deteriorates.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Frequently when licensed music is used. Special note go to [[spoiler: Sofia's death]] and the sequence in which [[spoiler: David realises he's dreaming]] - to the sounds of "Good Vibrations" by the BeachBoys.
* StandardFiftiesFather: It is implied that David invented a father figure for himself [[spoiler:(Dr. [=McCabe=])]] in this mold, based on Gregory Peck in ''ToKillAMockingbird''. If you look closely in one scene, you can see the guard in the prison watching the movie on a television.
* TakingYouWithMe: Julianna.
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Until the ending.
* ThrowItIn: The line "I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats" was something Penelope Cruz said to Cameron Crowe in a moment of frustration. He loved it so much he made it a key part of the movie.
* TropeMaker / OlderThanTheyThink: ''Vanilla Sky''[=/=]''Abre los Ojos'' beat ''{{Inception}}'' to the punch by [[strike:about nine]] more than ten years, in terms of exploring the idea of medically-induced lucid dreams.
* TwistEnding
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Not only does Julianna destroy her own life and David's, her memory also [[spoiler:destroys a certain universe]].
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27th Nov '12 8:22:33 PM kittenmommy

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16th Nov '12 8:46:29 AM erforce

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2nd Nov '12 4:13:04 PM IchigoMontoya

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