Critics pan Cruise's Vanilla Sky

American critics have panned Tom Cruise's latest release, Vanilla Sky.

The film also stars his new girlfriend Penelope Cruz.

It is described as "unspeakable, unwatchable, incomprehensible" by one newspaper.

The artistic erotic thriller is based on a Spanish film called Open Your Eyes which also starred Cruz. It was made just before Cruise split from Nicole Kidman.

The New York Times gave one of the most positive reviews, calling it "a movie whose barrelling narrative drive and soundtrack partly camouflage a multitude of flaws".

The Wall Street Journal was more critical: "Its tone is unquenchably pretentious and its scale is overblown," said critic Joe Morgenstern. "Whatever moved (Cruise) to do it, though, doesn't move us. Vanilla Sky is lots of bad dreams rolled into one."

The New York Post's Jonathan Foreman warned there was "turbulence ahead for Tom, Penelope and anyone who sees this bizarre twisted fable".

Most scathing of all was New York newspaper Newsday's John Anderson who wrote: "All things considered, if you're going to miss one film this year, make it Vanilla Sky."

He accuses David Ames, played by Cruise, of being "an unlikable character leading an artificial existence", while he notes that Cruz is uncomfortable speaking English.

Showbusiness newspaper Variety predicted the film would be a box office hit in its first week, but would quickly fall from the top spot.