Watch the trailers: http://videodetective.com/TitleDetails.aspx?publishedid=8399&st=Open%20Your%20Eyes%20(1997) http://videodetective.com/TitleDetails.aspx?publishedid=00600659
Here's two movies that will leave you confused to say the least. These trailers are intriguing so proceed at your risk. Open Your Eyes is a 1997 Spanish film that was remade in 2001 as a big budget American production called Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Jason Lee (TV's Earl). Both feature Penelope Cruz in the same role. Her garbled English is hard to follow and I still don't know why the critics raved about her performance in Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona. And how she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that movie is another mystery to me. I still have trouble understanding her in TV commercials.
Back to these movies.... I had trouble following the plot of this artsy-fartsy reality vs. dream thing that's explained at the end but even that will require rewatching the last twenty minutes of each movie.... maybe several times. Both movies need to be watched a few times to add up all the pieces. I can imagine perplexed audiences leaving before or at the end of the film grumbling 'WTF was it all about?' I'm not sure I understood all of it too. The remake has better/expensive production values peppered with flashier editing and a good soundtrack of songs including the whimsical title one by Paul McCartney during the closing credits. The original is not dubbed in English but the subtitles were easier to follow than the plot. The remake has good bonus features and I need to hear the director's commentary to see what he meant.
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