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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2001 - 9 Cruise, not Cruz, makes a Vanilla Sky a film to see SCREENING ROOM By John Foote VANILLA SKY . Directed by Cameron Crowe Now in theatres (*24+4) i Cameron Crowe has earned a strong reputation in the film industry as one of the best young writer-directors in the business, earning an Academy Award last year for his beautiful screenplay to Almost Famous (2000), based on his recollections covering Led Zeppelin for Rolling Stone Magazine in the early 1970s. Crowe's superb romantic film Jerry Maguire (1996) earned a best picture nomination and should have won Tom Cruise the Oscar for best actor. The director-writer has a knack for cre- ating interesting and true characters, something many directors are not capable of doing. Strong with actors, Crowe is among the more respected directors working with actors in the industry, as he offers them the chance to create characters that are both challenging and realistic. Trust me, 1 have worked with many actors over the years, and they like noth- ing better than a director who can both challenge them as artists and inspire them to create. Crowe offers actors strong dialogue to speak and the freedom to cre- ate a full-blooded character. Vanilla Sky is the first film Crowe has directed that is not an original work. Based on the foreign language film Open Your Eyes, released in North America just a few years ago, the new picture follows the original very closely. David (Tom Cruise) is a wealthy pub- lishing heir obsessed with looks and bed- ding one woman after another. His life is everything one could hope for until he snubs one of his conquests, Julie (Cameron Diaz), who unleashes a revenge . that he never dreamed of. She stalks him and as'he emerges from yet another con- quests' apartment, she encourages him to take a ride with her, where upon she dri- ves the car off a bridge, killing herself and horribly mangling his face. He emerges from the accident with his life, but his face is a distorted, twisted mess. At this point the film becomes a mystery thriller because as it turns out David has been charged with murder and suspects the mad woman is still alive. Filled with stunning surrealistic imagery, Vanilla Sky is both a profoundly important character study as well as being a Hitchcockian suspense film where noth- ing is quite as it seems. David is forced to look deep inside himself and discover what is truly good and beautiful about himself as a person and come to terms with both what he was and what he is. His new love, Sophia (Penelope Cruz) is indeed repelled by his looks at first yet warms to him, looking beyond the surface at the person who exists underneath. Cruise gives a fine performance as David in a role that seems tailor-made for the actor. Always at his best portraying arrogant young men who discover them- selves over the course of the film, he dives under the skin of David to give one of the year's best performances. Again, Cruise is at a disadvantage in the film because of what he looks like and his star power in the industry. There are still nay sayer§ who feel this young man cannot act and once again he delivers the goods to silence even his toughest critics. I had hoped after his superb work in films such as Rainman (1988), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Magnolia (1999) people would recog- nize that Cruise had done with his career the same thing Paul Newman did... he is both actor and movie star, at home in strong ch&Tacter roles and popcorn films. Cameron'Diaz gives a ferocious perfor- mance as the woman scorned who unleashes hell on the one she feels is her man. Diaz is too often considered eye candy in films, which is a shame because this young woman is a daring and gifted actress with the potential to stun audi- ences. Here, her eyes gleaming with great purpose, she is the poster girl for used women everywhere, exacting a revenge that has a stunning impact on the man who did her wrong. A supporting actress nomination seems in the works for Diaz for this elec- trifying performance. The weakness in the film is Cruz, who mangles the English language with a heavy accent that makes most of her line readings impossible to decipher. | am at a loss to explain her success in the busi- ness, but despite a lack of talent she is among the most sought after actresses in the business. Here she reprises the role she played in the original but very nearly ruins the film with a dreadful performance. Crowe's film is not as strong as last year's wonderful Almost Famous, but does contain a strong piece of acting from Cruise and some daring choices from the director. Filmed in a dreamy, surrealistic style the picture in many ways creates a new language in cinema that must be seen to be believed. Audiences might be put off by the style of the film, but I urge you to see Vanilla Sky, if only for the performances. of: Cruise and Diaz. MOULIN ROUGE Directed by Baz Laurmann Now on DVD/ video *™) Released earlier this year after pre- miering at the Cannes Film Festival, this wildly entertaining film takes some get- ting used to. Laurmann uses that same frenetic camera and editing style that made This Romeo and Juliet (1996) so incredibly entertaining. Set in the late 1890s the film contains modern rock and pop music that all makes a strong story point. 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