Vanilla Sky

Imagine if someone remade The Others, last year's incredibly chilling haunted house movie, but rewrote it to include Casper the Friendly Ghost, and that should give you a pretty good idea of what Cameron Crowe has done with Vanilla Sky. An ostentatious take on the stunning 1997 psychological thriller from Spain entitled Open Your Eyes (by Alejandro Amenábar, who also directed The Others), Vanilla Sky soft-serves its story of a rich, young lothario (Tom Cruise) losing his mind in a jumble of nightmares, dreams, fantasies and delusions after being horribly disfigured in a car crash the day after meeting the girl of his dreams (Penelope Cruz, reprising her role from the original). While ingenious twists and powerful emotions stirred the original tingle-inducing brain-bender, Crowe's version is a fanciful feel-good flick that lacks tension, emotional depth and psychological resonance. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include engaging commentary by director Crowe, his wife Nancy Wilson, and Tom Cruise; a brief 6-minute featurette called "Prelude to a Dream"; a whirlwind world press tour 10-minute featurette called "Hitting It Hard"; a short interview with Paul McCartney (who wrote the title track); the music video "Afrika Shox"; and a photo gallery.] (R. Blackwelder)