U.S. Remakes of Foreign Blockbusters

Some remakes feel like translations. Vanilla Sky feels more like a dream retold by someone else after waking up in a different country. The Spanish original, Open Your Eyes, came from Alejandro Amenábar and starred Eduardo Noriega, with Penélope Cruz giving the story its human center. Then Cameron Crowe took that same unstable reality, cast Tom Cruise as David Aames, brought Cruz back again, and surrounded the mystery with a more overtly emotional American atmosphere. The famous empty Times Square scene is the kind of image that sticks in the memory even if a person forgets parts of the plot. That is probably one reason Vanilla Sky has held on in conversation.