Set in Madrid, the story defies description, but this much can be revealed: young, handsome Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) is vain, rich, charming, and--following a botched suicide-murder scheme by a jilted lover--horribly disfigured. He'd fallen in love with Sofia (Penelope Cruz) but is now an embittered husk of his former self, stuck in a "psychiatric penitentiary" on a murder charge and hiding behind an expressionless mask. His reality has crumbled, but as the film's agenda is gradually revealed, we realize that there are other factors in play. Exposing that agenda would be a criminal offense against those who haven't seen the film; suffice it to say that Open Your Eyes takes you into the twilight zone and beyond, and does so cleverly enough to prompt Tom Cruise to produce and star in an English-language remake, Vanilla Sky. The 2001 remake, directed by Cameron Crowe, costars Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz, who reprises her original role. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 03/11/2008 Run time: 117 minutes Rating: R

The film begins normally enough by introducing us to Cesar (played by Eduardo Noriega), a wealthy man with popularity and good looks tucked under his sleeve. He's got a best friend, Pelayo (Fele Martinez), who takes pleasure in chiding him about his involvement with the persistent Nuria (Najwa Nimri), who simply won't take no for an answer when it appears that Cesar has lost interest in her. His birthday party marks the start of a new relationship with the lovely and high-spirited Sofia (Penelope Cruz), yet his reservations about moving too fast with her further infuriate Nuria, who offers him a ride back to his apartment the following morning only to run the both of them down a hillside into a wall.

The accident leaves Nuria dead and Cesar badly injured, with facial scars untreatable by his physicians, who try to convince him of the risks involved in attempting to return his face to its former state. His disfigurement is a burden to him, as well as to Sofia and Pelayo, who find discomfort not in his looks, but in his downtrodden attitude and outlook on his future. Noriega captures this lapse in emotion quite wonderfully, while also sharing a great chemistry with Cruz which keeps us involved with the romantic aspect of the story as well as the forthcoming mystery.

The movie soon reaches a point where everything seems to change... Cesar finds himself in the arms of Sofia, sharing a love he never thought possible; his doctors have come up with a solution to his facial scars, restoring his face back to its handsome look. Everything seems to be going quite well for him, until one night he finds Nuria in his bed and his happy life turned upside down by his friends, who persist in telling him that this woman he clearly despises is Sofia.

The story is good at keeping its audience at bay for information and twists, casting us into a darkness so that Cesar's confusion and delirium soon becomes our own as well. His struggle to recover the clues that will solve the mystery behind his life's sudden downfall is intriguing and effectively induces thought among viewers, who will no doubt find themselves recalling clues, piecing together scenes and characters, lines of dialogue and different objects Cesar has come in contact with. It's all a sense of mystifying wonderment, and Amenabar is able to lay on plot twist after plot twist at just the right pace so that we hunger for more.

Your acceptance of the movie's final resolution ultimately depends on your willingness to suspend disbelief, as well as your scrutiny. It begs its audience to question its intentions, to ask why certain events have come to pass, why certain characters thought to be dead have come back to haunt Cesar; I think most people will be inclined to ask one question (SPOILER ALERT): If Cesar has been creating his own world, then why does he torture himself with his past? This is a question the movie doesn't answer forthright; perhaps it is better left unanswered, as it most likely will take away from the impact the final twist will have.

As I finish this review, I still find myself perplexed by the complex nature and stunning array of twists and surprises that Amenabar supplies his film with. As I watched the film, I found myself straying away from its conclusion, but upon further thought, I realize that it serves the purpose of tying the film together in a manner that does justice to the story that leads up to it. I still have my reservations about the nature of Cesar's final state of mind, but the effectiveness of the overall film easily makes it a minor flaw.


Cruz shines as does Eduardo Noriega in Open Your Eyes   January 24, 2002
 21 out of 23 found this review helpful

Anyone who saw Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky and loved it should really seek out this film, the original, "Open Your Eyes." Although less technically savvy and a lot quieter than Vanilla Sky (I actually missed Crowe's use of music), this Spanish language version is definetely worth seeing. Alejandro Amenabar's story is a highly complex psychological thriller, and the main leads couldn't be more watchable. Eduardo Noriega gives Tom Cruise a run for his money in this role (and vice versa, I thought the acting in Vanilla Sky was excellent). It was nice to see the original version of what is arguably one of the most interesting films to come out in the last couple of years. This film is destined to become a classic, like Vanilla Sky in its own right.

The DVD has a small, four page commentary on the film and its meaning, or at least the meaning that Amenabar intended. I found that interesting, as well as the short cast biographies/filmographies. I was very impressed with Cruz(again) and Noriega, and plan to see more films starring them.

Cruz fans should check out the wonderful romantic comedy Twice Upon a Yesterday and the delightful Woman on Top as well.

I highly recommended this film. In Spanish with English subtitles.


"Abre Los Ojos"...Makes "Vanilla Sky" look very bland...   November 30, 2002
 21 out of 23 found this review helpful

I saw "Abre Los Ojos" quite a while before I saw "Vanilla Sky," and to me it is far superior. Cameron Crowe's version of this dark and twisted dreamscape is so prettied up and sanitized that much of the impact of the story is lost--as is the case with many Americanized versions of foreign-language films. Eduardo Noriega is amazing (and beautiful)in "Abre Los Ojos," giving the character of Cesar a sense of darkness as well as vulnerability, not to mention the egocentricity of a spoiled child that is expected in the character--Tom Cruise, on the other hand, just seems like a movie star throughout his entire performance in "Vanilla Sky." Penelope Cruz's performance in this original version is much more believable...ironic, considering she and Cruise became a couple. The chemistry between Cruz and Noriega is much more palpable. The Madrid scenery is amazing, and there is a dreamlike quality to the film that comes from excellent cinematography and just plain good film-making...not Hollywood "magic". The characters are believable, and the ending is not as "sugar coated," so that it has an even bigger impact on the audience. Skip the Vanilla...and open your eyes.


Open your eyes to a brilliant film.   December 14, 2001
 20 out of 23 found this review helpful

Alejandro Amenabar's "Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos)" operates on the notion that dreams and reality walk hand-in-hand down the path of life. It deals with elements of psychological bliss and disturbance in ways reminiscent of Hitchcock and "The Twilight Zone," evoking a tone of constant underlying dread that remains in the mind long after the movie's earth-shattering climax. This isn't a thriller in the traditional sense, but its thought-provoking plot is a testament to Amenabar's superb storytelling capability.

The film begins normally enough by introducing us to Cesar (played by Eduardo Noriega), a wealthy man with popularity and good looks tucked under his sleeve. He's got a best friend, Pelayo (Fele Martinez), who takes pleasure in chiding him about his involvement with the persistent Nuria (Najwa Nimri), who simply won't take no for an answer when it appears that Cesar has lost interest in her. His birthday party marks the start of a new relationship with the lovely and high-spirited Sofia (Penelope Cruz), yet his reservations about moving too fast with her further infuriate Nuria, who offers him a ride back to his apartment the following morning only to run the both of them down a hillside into a wall.

The accident leaves Nuria dead and Cesar badly injured, with facial scars untreatable by his physicians, who try to convince him of the risks involved in attempting to return his face to its former state. His disfigurement is a burden to him, as well as to Sofia and Pelayo, who find discomfort not in his looks, but in his downtrodden attitude and outlook on his future. Noriega captures this lapse in emotion quite wonderfully, while also sharing a great chemistry with Cruz which keeps us involved with the romantic aspect of the story as well as the forthcoming mystery.

The movie soon reaches a point where everything seems to change... Cesar finds himself in the arms of Sofia, sharing a love he never thought possible; his doctors have come up with a solution to his facial scars, restoring his face back to its handsome look. Everything seems to be going quite well for him, until one night he finds Nuria in his bed and his happy life turned upside down by his friends, who persist in telling him that this woman he clearly despises is Sofia.

The story is good at keeping its audience at bay for information and twists, casting us into a darkness so that Cesar's confusion and delirium soon becomes our own as well. His struggle to recover the clues that will solve the mystery behind his life's sudden downfall is intriguing and effectively induces thought among viewers, who will no doubt find themselves recalling clues, piecing together scenes and characters, lines of dialogue and different objects Cesar has come in contact with. It's all a sense of mystifying wonderment, and Amenabar is able to lay on plot twist after plot twist at just the right pace so that we hunger for more.

Your acceptance of the movie's final resolution ultimately depends on your willingness to suspend disbelief, as well as your scrutiny. It begs its audience to question its intentions, to ask why certain events have come to pass, why certain characters thought to be dead have come back to haunt Cesar; I think most people will be inclined to ask one question (SPOILER ALERT): If Cesar has been creating his own world, then why does he torture himself with his past? This is a question the movie doesn't answer forthright; perhaps it is better left unanswered, as it most likely will take away from the impact the final twist will have.

As I finish this review, I still find myself perplexed by the complex nature and stunning array of twists and surprises that Amenabar supplies his film with. As I watched the film, I found myself straying away from its conclusion, but upon further thought, I realize that it serves the purpose of tying the film together in a manner that does justice to the story that leads up to it. I still have my reservations about the nature of Cesar's final state of mind, but the effectiveness of the overall film easily makes it a minor flaw.