Open Your Eyes to Vanilla Sky

1. Open Your Eyes

Rating: 7.9/10
Genre: Suspense

Overall value for money and time: 7.6/10

The movie is about a young, handsome but egoistic man who falls in love with his best friend's girlfriend. He has an affair with her but was disfigured in a car crash. His life changes, he who always depended on his good looks to get around, and he starts finding alternatives to make his life "perfect" again. This movie has an excellent plot. It holds great suspense even at the very end and harbors many twists in the story. I was emotionally taken aback after the movie and this is one movie that is truly thought provoking. If I'm not wrong this is a spanish film which is made in 1997. Comparing it with "Pan's Labyrinth" and probably other spanish films, I think this is one of the best there is. It has a disturbing factor in the plot and the mood of the film changes throughout the movie. This movie really does open one's eyes...

2. Vanilla Sky

Rating: 6.9/10
Genre: Suspense

Overall value for money and time: 6.6/10

This movie is a Hollywood remake of "Open Your Eyes", and one that proves inferior to it's origin. The movie plot is fairly similar, perhaps the man has a different occupation, his girlfriend has a different name etc. Apart from these minor details, the overall storyline is the same. I caught "Vanilla Sky" before watching "Open Your Eyes". I can't remember much of "Vanilla Sky" but thought it was just an average movie. However, I managed to watch "Open Your Eyes" on TV recently without knowing that "Vanilla Sky" was based on it. Throughout the movie, I was kept captivated and intrigued. You may give "Vanilla Sky" a miss but definately not "Open Your Eyes".

(Trivia: Did you know that the director for "Open Your Eyes" also directed "The Others"?)