Vanilla Sky

I don't remember any shots where tha Cameron Diaz character's face was scarred. Do you mean in the photos the Kurt Russell character showed him? That was after he tied her up and beat her, asking what had happened to Sofia.

Basically everything up to the point where David Aames falls asleep drunk in the street, the night he met them at the club and fears Sofia and Brian (Jason Lee) have met together romantically, everything up to that point is "real", it happened. Everything that happens after that point in the timeline is false, it only happened in his dreams.

In his dream scenarios yes, he is being held for murdering Sofia, who he kept confusing with Julie Gianni. But no, he didn't really kill either one of them. Julie died in the car accident, and he never saw Sofia again after the club.

David's face was really scarred in the accident. In his dream worlds it is sometimes repaired, sometimes not, but in "reality" what happened is he went home and became increasingly depressed, eventually comitting suicide by taking pills. Before he killed himself he hired the cryonics company. His body was found in time to freeze him, place him in a state of suspended animation. His face is still badly scarred and he's probably full of poison too, but he's frozen.

In this frozen state he has paid extra to have the "lucid dream" option, which when it works properly gives the suspended person the illusion that their life has continued onward. Because of the guilt and pain in his subconscious mind, guilt over how he treated Julie and the desicion he made that prevented him from having what potentially could have been a wonderful relationship with Sofia, his lucid dream has turned into a nightmare, one where he is on trial for killing Sofia/Julie.

In the end, one of the faces he's seen throughout his dreams is revealed to be "Tech Support", part of a program that can interact with him during his lucid dream apart from any script David is playing for himself. When the "Tech Support" finally confronts him and takes him to the roof, he explains the situation. It is over one-hundred years in the future now. There are technologies avilable that will really repair the physical damage from the car accident (and his subsequent suicide attempt).

He is given two options. One is he can stay in the lucid dreamworld, with a promise that the program will work better now, it won't be a nightmare, and he'll have no memory of the nightmares - basically he can have the Sofia he always dreamed of, without the negatives. It will seem real, but it will only be a dream. The second option is to come out of the lucid dream program, be healed in the present (which is far into the future), and have a chance at new experiences and a 'reality' that is unknown. Rather than stay, he jumps off the roof, signaling that he is done with the program and wants to return to reality, even though Sofia won't be there.

I don't remember any shots where tha Cameron Diaz character's face was scarred. Do you mean in the photos the Kurt Russell character showed him? That was after he tied her up and beat her, asking what had happened to Sofia.

Basically everything up to the point where David Aames falls asleep drunk in the street, the night he met them at the club and fears Sofia and Brian (Jason Lee) have met together romantically, everything up to that point is "real", it happened. Everything that happens after that point in the timeline is false, it only happened in his dreams.

In his dream scenarios yes, he is being held for murdering Sofia, who he kept confusing with Julie Gianni. But no, he didn't really kill either one of them. Julie died in the car accident, and he never saw Sofia again after the club.

David's face was really scarred in the accident. In his dream worlds it is sometimes repaired, sometimes not, but in "reality" what happened is he went home and became increasingly depressed, eventually comitting suicide by taking pills. Before he killed himself he hired the cryonics company. His body was found in time to freeze him, place him in a state of suspended animation. His face is still badly scarred and he's probably full of poison too, but he's frozen.

In this frozen state he has paid extra to have the "lucid dream" option, which when it works properly gives the suspended person the illusion that their life has continued onward. Because of the guilt and pain in his subconscious mind, guilt over how he treated Julie and the desicion he made that prevented him from having what potentially could have been a wonderful relationship with Sofia, his lucid dream has turned into a nightmare, one where he is on trial for killing Sofia/Julie.

In the end, one of the faces he's seen throughout his dreams is revealed to be "Tech Support", part of a program that can interact with him during his lucid dream apart from any script David is playing for himself. When the "Tech Support" finally confronts him and takes him to the roof, he explains the situation. It is over one-hundred years in the future now. There are technologies avilable that will really repair the physical damage from the car accident (and his subsequent suicide attempt).

He is given two options. One is he can stay in the lucid dreamworld, with a promise that the program will work better now, it won't be a nightmare, and he'll have no memory of the nightmares - basically he can have the Sofia he always dreamed of, without the negatives. It will seem real, but it will only be a dream. The second option is to come out of the lucid dream program, be healed in the present (which is far into the future), and have a chance at new experiences and a 'reality' that is unknown. Rather than stay, he jumps off the roof, signaling that he is done with the program and wants to return to reality, even though Sofia won't be there.

It's exactly as Holden said. He simply extended his life because he couldn't face the truth. Anything in the movie, past the crash, that changed was a figment of his immagination. Anything before was real. In the end, he chooses to be reawakened in real life.

It's exactly as Holden said. He simply extended his life because he couldn't face the truth. Anything in the movie, past the crash, that changed was a figment of his immagination. Anything before was real. In the end, he chooses to be reawakened in real life.

how come in the beginning, sophia is saying open your eyes when he hasn't met her yet? then cruise gets in his car and new york is completely empty.. what's that all about? is that saying that he was dreaming the whole time?

how come in the beginning, sophia is saying open your eyes when he hasn't met her yet? then cruise gets in his car and new york is completely empty.. what's that all about? is that saying that he was dreaming the whole time?

You can interpret the very, very end of the movie - the dark screen after he jumps and the line "Open your eyes" - as meaning even the "Tech Support" guy was only a dream, that no matter what he does, in a Groundhog Day kind of way he'll keep waking up in this dream no matter what, whether it is a lucid dream he paid for or just what his mind is doing to him.

I don't think that interpretation is supported in the film, but you CAN look at it that way if you want. But then EVERYthing could be a dream, even the accident and his life before he met Sofia. I don't think that's what the film is saying.

You can interpret the very, very end of the movie - the dark screen after he jumps and the line "Open your eyes" - as meaning even the "Tech Support" guy was only a dream, that no matter what he does, in a Groundhog Day kind of way he'll keep waking up in this dream no matter what, whether it is a lucid dream he paid for or just what his mind is doing to him.

I don't think that interpretation is supported in the film, but you CAN look at it that way if you want. But then EVERYthing could be a dream, even the accident and his life before he met Sofia. I don't think that's what the film is saying.

how about the beginning though, where it is showing overhead shots of new york then penelope cruz's voice says open your eyes and tom cruise (who doesn't even know her yet) wakes up and goes through his routine to see New York empty -- then wakes up again.

how about the beginning though, where it is showing overhead shots of new york then penelope cruz's voice says open your eyes and tom cruise (who doesn't even know her yet) wakes up and goes through his routine to see New York empty -- then wakes up again.

Right, well we see Kurt Russell's character and that interrogation room well before the accident too. The context of that opening sequence with the empty streets is he's telling the court-appointed shrink (Russell) about his dreams. But Russell and the upcoming murder trial are part of that dream too, David just doesn't know it yet. Unlike some of the other sequences, the empty streets is obviously a dream.

Waking up to basically the same series of events again, but this time with people and the stuff with his job and the birthday party, that doesn't mean that it too is all a dream. Like the last line of the film, you CAN interpret it that way. But if EVERYthing in the movie is a dream, there is no beginning, no characters, and who is dreaming this anyway? If you take the position that every single part is a dream, including the stuff that happens in the timeline before the car accident, then we never ever see any reality, and we never know who is dreaming. What would the point of that be? It doesn't make sense, from a narrative point-of-view.

The movie has an internal logic, just follow it and go where it takes you.

Right, well we see Kurt Russell's character and that interrogation room well before the accident too. The context of that opening sequence with the empty streets is he's telling the court-appointed shrink (Russell) about his dreams. But Russell and the upcoming murder trial are part of that dream too, David just doesn't know it yet. Unlike some of the other sequences, the empty streets is obviously a dream.

Waking up to basically the same series of events again, but this time with people and the stuff with his job and the birthday party, that doesn't mean that it too is all a dream. Like the last line of the film, you CAN interpret it that way. But if EVERYthing in the movie is a dream, there is no beginning, no characters, and who is dreaming this anyway? If you take the position that every single part is a dream, including the stuff that happens in the timeline before the car accident, then we never ever see any reality, and we never know who is dreaming. What would the point of that be? It doesn't make sense, from a narrative point-of-view.

The movie has an internal logic, just follow it and go where it takes you.

another thing.. the elevator guy said they met 100 years earlier.. that would mean david was living his 'dream' life for about 100 years or so, but how is that possible if the dream murder and his self discovery was definately not many years after the accident.

another thing.. the elevator guy said they met 100 years earlier.. that would mean david was living his 'dream' life for about 100 years or so, but how is that possible if the dream murder and his self discovery was definately not many years after the accident.

Because he's been dreaming, obviously, and the same rules of time and space do not apply.

In his head, very little time has passed. But in real time, for many, many years he has wrestled with these same themes over and over again, but always without fully remembering his suicide or the contract to extend his life via cryonics.

The timeline in reality is this...
David wakes up with Julie Gianni, he goes to work, he has the party and meets Sofia, he takes Sofia home and falls in love with her without consumating physically, Julie meets him in the morning, he gets in the car, they crash, Julie dies and David lives though scarred in his face and arm, David is depressed and withdraws from the business and life, he meets Sofia and Brian at the club, he passes out in the street. It isn't ever said exactly when finds the company on the internet he then goes to Life Extension, but he does so sometime after the incident at the club. He signs the contract, he and the fat lawyer fight for control of the company, they win, David is still depressed about losing the opportunity with Sofia, his frustration that there isn't currently a medical procedure that will repair him, and his continuing guilt over Julie's death. So, he takes pills and tries to kill himself. He is taken to the cryonics institute in a coma, they freeze him and start the dream programs.

We are told the splice from reality to his dream was put in after falling asleep drunk in the street. Stuff really happened to him after that (most importantly signing the contract and his suicide attempt), but because of the program he isn't supposed to remember those types of things, thus the splice. He doesn't remember them for many years, until these events and his subconscious start invading the dreams and turning hem into nightmares.

Over one-hundred years pass in real time before he finally works all of this out in his lucid dreaming. When he finally does, he is given a choice to continue with dreams or be brought back to an uncertain reality where he can be finally cured physically. He chooses life. The end.

EVERYTHING else that happens is a dream.

Got it?

Because he's been dreaming, obviously, and the same rules of time and space do not apply.

In his head, very little time has passed. But in real time, for many, many years he has wrestled with these same themes over and over again, but always without fully remembering his suicide or the contract to extend his life via cryonics.

The timeline in reality is this...
David wakes up with Julie Gianni, he goes to work, he has the party and meets Sofia, he takes Sofia home and falls in love with her without consumating physically, Julie meets him in the morning, he gets in the car, they crash, Julie dies and David lives though scarred in his face and arm, David is depressed and withdraws from the business and life, he meets Sofia and Brian at the club, he passes out in the street. It isn't ever said exactly when finds the company on the internet he then goes to Life Extension, but he does so sometime after the incident at the club. He signs the contract, he and the fat lawyer fight for control of the company, they win, David is still depressed about losing the opportunity with Sofia, his frustration that there isn't currently a medical procedure that will repair him, and his continuing guilt over Julie's death. So, he takes pills and tries to kill himself. He is taken to the cryonics institute in a coma, they freeze him and start the dream programs.

We are told the splice from reality to his dream was put in after falling asleep drunk in the street. Stuff really happened to him after that (most importantly signing the contract and his suicide attempt), but because of the program he isn't supposed to remember those types of things, thus the splice. He doesn't remember them for many years, until these events and his subconscious start invading the dreams and turning hem into nightmares.

Over one-hundred years pass in real time before he finally works all of this out in his lucid dreaming. When he finally does, he is given a choice to continue with dreams or be brought back to an uncertain reality where he can be finally cured physically. He chooses life. The end.

EVERYTHING else that happens is a dream.

Got it?

What was the significance, if any, of the Inspection Sticker on Cruise's Mustang having the date 2/30/01? Or was that just one of those things that gets stuck in that doesn't mean anything

What was the significance, if any, of the Inspection Sticker on Cruise's Mustang having the date 2/30/01? Or was that just one of those things that gets stuck in that doesn't mean anything

if there's some big twist that makes sense, well, great...but it's truly a cop-out if a film builds up to a conclusion for over 90 minutes, and just pulls something out of a magic hat to tie up all plot holes with a "ha, it was all a dream!" type of explanation, then more often than not, I'm going to be p*ssed.

if there's some big twist that makes sense, well, great...but it's truly a cop-out if a film builds up to a conclusion for over 90 minutes, and just pulls something out of a magic hat to tie up all plot holes with a "ha, it was all a dream!" type of explanation, then more often than not, I'm going to be p*ssed.