May not emerge as the biggest disaster of the holiday movie season, if only because we haven't yet seen all the other year-end films. But it is a huge high-energy misfire, bringing Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Crowe to earth with a thud.

Jay Carr

Boston Globe

If Crowe's eyes are open, he seems to have directed most of Vanilla Sky with his mind wide shut.

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

For all the filmmakers' efforts, this project is something of an artistic albatross. It's a conundrum that doesn't get answered until a sort of help-the-audience Cliffs Notes final scene, in which we learn Everything. But by then, more than a few of us may be wondering, was it all really worth the trouble?

Desson Thomson

Washington Post