Vanilla Sky

Manhattan publishing heir David Aames (Tom Cruise) is bedding an emotionally unstable socialite (Cameron Diaz) when he lusts after the acquaintance (Penelope Cruz) of his best client and friend (Jason Lee). The double betrayal leads to the disfigurement of Aames’ face, a storyline that interweaves reality and nightmare, and a science fiction ending that makes all that went before it feel pretentious as well as preposterous. This sort of surrealistic Fatal Attraction is a remake of the 1997 Spanish psychological thriller Open Your Eyes. It becomes an overly long exercise in twisted illusions as Cruz reprises her original role in English, Cruise (Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut) continues to dabble in dark, unsympathetic characters, and Diaz steals her every scene with her edgy, sensual performance. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry McGuire).