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Remake of the Spanish existential thriller "Abre Los
Ojos." Cameron Crowe directs and Tom Cruise stars as a wealthy New York City
publishing executive who one night meets the girl of his dreams (Penelope Cruz), only to
be thrust headlong into a mind-bending adventure where there's hardly any distinction
between reality and dreams. Also with Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee and Kurt Russell. [2:25]
SEX/NUDITY 8 - A couple is kissing in bed (we see his bare chest and both of
her bare breasts for a few minutes) and they run their hands down each other's bodies; the
couple takes turns with the man on top at times and the woman on top at times and we see
thrusting movements a few times when the man is on top. A couple is in bed in a different
scene (we see his bare chest and her bare shoulders) and the man is on top thrusting and
his movements become more frenzied and rougher as the act becomes violent -- during this
the woman moans and at times she seems to enjoy it, and at times she appears to be
uncomfortable; this scene culminates with the man suffocating the woman. A couple is in
bed and we see bare shoulders, kissing, groaning and thrusting with the man on top. A
couple wakes up in bed and we see his bare chest and her bare shoulders, and we see a
man's bare chest in a few other scenes. A woman is covered by a comforter and we see her
bare shoulders and legs and she kisses a man trying to entice into having sex (while they
are kissing, it appears the comforter has slipped down but we only see shoulders). A
couple lies on a couch together and nearly kiss with the man on top of the woman. A couple
is in bed and we see his bare hips and the tops of her breasts and they kiss. There are
about eight other scenes where couples kiss a few times. We see a picture of a man in
briefs, we see glimpses of scantily clad men and women in the background, on computer
terminals. There is some sexual innuendo and frank talk about sex: references to a woman
as a friend with whom a man has had sex a few times ("we're friends who sometimes
sleep together"), references to wanting to have sex, there are pictures on a
refrigerator of a scantily clad woman, a woman makes a reference to a sex act and
ejaculation, a man says he's straight, as opposed to being gay.
VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - A man smothers a woman with a pillow over her face, as her
arms thrash around. A man commits suicide by taking pills; he falls and stumbles and then
we see his body in a body bag being zipped up. A woman drives a car recklessly, crosses
over into lanes of traffic, cuts off other cars, and drives into a bridge as a passenger
tries to wrench the steering wheel away from her. The car falls onto the road below and
hits a wall and the front end is completely smashed; we see a glimpse of a man's
disfigured face and his paralyzed arm as he stumbles down a hallway, and later, we see his
disfigured face in many other scenes. A man is in surgery and we briefly see a picture of
his bloody face. A woman hits a man over the head a few times and kicks him roughly while
he's on the ground and there is a bruise at his hairline. Two men in a car nearly hit a
bicyclist and then are nearly broadsided by a semi. A man kicks a chair violently across a
room, a man wears an eerie blank mask through much of the film, a man has blood on his
thumb and knuckles, and his knuckles are scraped. A man falls many feet from a tall
building. A man ties a woman's hands with a cord. A man with a disfigured face looks into
a mirror and we see that he is scarred (this happens a few times), we see a picture of a
battered woman with bruises and bloody scrapes on her face. A man pushes past a police
officer in an effort to escape. There are a few other scenes of pushing and shoving.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 9 - About 43 F-words, one obscene hand gesture, some scatological
references, several sexual references, a couple of anatomical references, and a couple of religious exclamations. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Wealth, jealousy, random accidents, fate, dreams and
dreamlike states of consciousness.
MESSAGE - You can control your own fate. Everything is ephemeral.
