... You know the one I'm talking about , the one with Tom Cruise

OMG this review is impossible without mentioning VANILLA SKY , I mean not only is it a remake of ABRE LOS OJO but it's almost scene for scene the exact same movie , in fact since it's got Penelope Cruz in the exact same role as the original you can't even say VANILLA SKY is the same movie with an entirely different cast !

That's the problem with having seen the remake first because it's very difficult to comment on ABRE LOS OJOS because I knew exactly where the movie was heading when Cesar stepped out of his car and surveyed the empty city scape at the start of the movie . This familiarity of the story ruined the movie for me . If only I'd seen this before Hollywood remade it !

Strangely enough Channel 4 broadcast this the night before they broadcast VANILLA SKY and it's obvious that the strengths of the Alejandro Amenaber original have become weaknesses in Crowe's remake . Eduardo Noriega might not be a film star but he is an actor , when watching him play Cesar he is Cesar . When watching Cruise play David you're aware of a movie star playing a disfigured character , his casting against type makes the audience aware that despite the shock revelation at the end it's only a movie . Amenaber thankfully doesn't drown the audience with pop culture references every five seconds unlike Crowe and because of this the audience can concentrate on the mind bending but totally rewarding plot a lot more

Incidentally I awarded this movie seven out of ten the same mark as I gave the remake . If I saw the prior film first I would have almost certainly have given it a higher mark while possibly giving VANILLA SKY a lower one