Vanilla Sky

by Cameron Crowe

From the Academy Award-winning writer-director of Almost Famous, the script for one of the year's most eagerly anticipated films.

In Vanilla Sky, Tom Cruise stars as David, a young New York City publishing magnate who finds himself on an unexpected roller-coaster ride of romance, comedy, suspicion, sex, and dreams in what turns out to be a mind-bending search for his soul. Penelope Cruz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, and Cameron Diaz also star in this haunting investigation of beauty, love, and betrayal, which is bound to become one of the most talked about films of 2001.

Genres: Media Tie In, Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2002

About the author

Cameron Bruce Crowe is an Academy Award winning American writer and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes.

Crowe has made his mark with character-driven, personal films that have been generally hailed as refreshingly original and void of cynicism. Michael Walker in the New York Times called Crowe "something of a cinematic spokesman for the post-baby boom generation" because his first few films focused on that specific age group, first as high schoolers and then as young adults making their way in the world.

Crowe's debut screenwriting effort, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, grew out of a novel he wrote while posing for one year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California, USA. Later, he wrote and directed one more high school saga, Say Anything, and then Singles, a story of Seattle twentysomethings that was woven together by a soundtrack centering on that city's burgeoning grunge music scene. Crowe landed his biggest hit, though, with the feel-good Jerry Maguire. After this, he was given a green light to go ahead with a pet project, the autobiographical effort Almost Famous. Centering on a teenage music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band, it gave insight to his life as a 15-year-old writer for Rolling Stone. Also, in late 1999, Crowe released his second book, Conversations with Billy Wilder, a question and answer session with the legendary director.

Reviews

[Luís Castilho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cameron Crowe is such a talented writer. He has this unique style of writing that is very fast paced but, at the same time, incredibly witty. Vanilla Sky (reference to Monet's paitings) is not a mear americanisation of Alejandro Amenabar's film "Abre Los Ojos". It is in fact a retelling of the same story but with a deeper and more philosophical approach. The plot of this book is written in a greek tragedy fashion: First the status quo (rich David Aams has everything he desires, uses women as pet toys -Julie), then a devine intervention that sets the hero on a new quest (David Aams meets Sofia and wants to leave his bohemian life for her), then a tragic event happenes that is largely due to the status quo force of gravity (David Aams chooses to get in Julie's car and gets into a car accident), the internal conflict (David Aams is tormented by his disfiguration and the realization that now he will never be loved by Sofia) and finally the deus ex machina (the artifical life extension program and the fascinating concept of the lucid dream). Naturally a realisation is made at the end that befalls on the reader as a devine commandment: even if you could controle your dreams, you would soon enough grow insatisfied of the dream likeness of it and start needing some tragic events in order for it to feel real. Because just as Brian Shelby (David's best friend) repeatedly warns David: "You can do whatever you want with your life, but one day you'll know what love truly is. It's the sour and the sweet. And I know sour, which allows me to appreciate the sweet".

[Jevron McCrory · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and effective movie - borne from beautiful and effective words on the page.

Man, Cameron Crowe can WRITE! Usually, reading a screenplay is a stale and dull exercise but Crowe has such a way with words, they paint the scenes vividly.

(Always gotta know what was on the page to make a mega star like Tom Cruise sign on, right? Then again, him and Crowe are seemingly BEST friends.)

I can understand why the movie confused people but I'm baffled as to how anyone could hate it? Family Guy remarked that it's an 'abortion' of a movie and while it would take an essay or treatise to effectively address all the many layers, themes and subtexts of the film, I think it's EASILY Cruise' best performance in a sea of great performances.

So much was on the page from the get go and I love knowing that great movies started out on the page great. As Quentin Tarantino once famously said - 'Words are cheap. If you have no money, or even if you do, always start off with a GREAT script! It's free!'

Vanilla Sky isn't for everyone but if you take the journey, I'm sure you'll be riveted by what you experience.

[Rebexxa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the screenplay to Cameron Crowe's film, Vanilla Sky staring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell. I read it because the film has a lot of sentimental significance in my life and the synchronicity I have found attached to this movie is incredible. This is a personal review that will make sense to nobody but it is for me to remember.

The screenplay had additional synchronicities that I didn't anticipate, (Jan 16, lines from Sophia and lines from Brian lives from Ventura about the meaning of life and the dream) and that was worth the time I spent reading a film I've seen so many times. Lines that were changed were important to me. There were some things left out, but it was really awesome to have a few moments that felt significant and connected to my Joe. The addition of the specific date January 16 also felt really important. It's hard to explain to anyone but Joe why this all means more than any movie should, but he knows and I know and so I'm really glad i found the screenplay in book format and read it. 💙💛

[Matt Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

An underrated script from Crowe, who's likely best known for "Jerry Maguire," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," and even "Almost Famous." Here, though, I felt like he took more chances and, in certain respects, went against audience expectations (although there were plenty of spots, especially in dialogue between the protagonist and a psychologist character that felt stiff). The emotional undercurrent is what kept me hooked throughout, as it takes the redemption arc into an interesting sci-fi, even metaphysical place. Not for everyone (there's enough cheese to turn some purists off), but, in this case, wearing his heart on his sleeve is a good move for Crowe.

[Frida Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es el segundo guión que leo y la pura chilladera. Me encanta darme cuenta de las cosas que cambian en pantalla, y las improvisaciones en español. Agh, te amo Elevator beat.
Vanilla Sky tiene un lugar muy especial en mi cora, es de esas películas que veo cuando quiero darle paz a mi alma aunque sea todo un desastre.

[Ole Beier · Rating 5 out of 5]

nur den film geguckt aber der ist anders cool

[Nyie Rombeng · Rating 4 out of 5]

affair & betrayal is thin different!
affair is like vanilla flavour in beginning but can hurt in the deep heart in the end.always says thanks to our life because that's the best for us.
yes or not is the answer for act of the affair!

[Joeylopez86 lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The greatest ever!

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

now i suppose I should see the movie. But was it all a dream?

[Gill Beckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it . Mind blowing ❤️