"Eternal Sunshine" is just as creative as "Being John Malkovich" but without the characters who did despicable things (i.e. taking over people's bodies) in the latter movie. Instead, the story centers around Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) who are two very appealing "nice people."

I'm a guy, so naturally my eyes are on Kate Winslet. She really does merit the description that one critic gave her, "very easy to fall in love with" (I know I have). Besides this movie, I've seen her in two other great roles in "Sense and Sensibility" and "Enigma." In "Eternal Sunshine" she plays the shy man's dream girl: a wacky, flaky woman who lights up every scene that she's in. Yet she's also a wounded spirit, fighting a problem with alcohol.

Jim Carrey does a fine job playing Clementine's soul mate (and in some ways her polar opposite). He's a quiet introspective man with none of the trademark Carrey goofiness. Joel is someone I could readily imagine being, unlike if the role was played by better known actors who never play anything less than flawless human beings.

I won't spoil the plot beyond the fact that I thought it was a life-affirming story about the part of a love affair that usually gets short shrift, when people either come to terms with or fail to come to terms with the shortcomings of their significant others. The special effects and science-fiction conceit of memory erasure give the love story of Clementine and Joel a lift that a more straightforward narrative would lack.

On a final note: some people will probably read the script that is available on the Internet before seeing this movie.... I did and sort of wish I hadn't because the movie would have been a little fresher to me. However, those who did read the script and were put off by the ending there should go see "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" anyway because the movie's outcome is infinitely better.

I hope that there's a Clementine out there for me somewhere. Until then, I at least have a memory of a very nice romantic comedy that left me a little teary eyed at the end --but in a good way. I would only erase it if I could get to watch it again. Read more ›

Uptight Joel (Jim Carrey) is shocked to learn that his likably flaky ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has taken unusual measures, post-breakup. She's having her memories of him erased from her brain at Lacuna Inc. When he learns WHY she broke up with him (she thought he was boring), he gets mad and decides to have the same thing done to himself.

So a group of offbeat techies and doctors (Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst) begin to erase the memories of Clementine from Joel's brain (Wood's character also tries to use Joel's memories to seduce Clementine). Problem is, his brain doesn't want to let them go. It pokes Clementine into parts of his memory where she doesn't belong, so he won't have to let go. And viewing the memories makes him fall in love all over again...

"Dark romantic comedy" is the closest thing that "Eternal Sunshine" has to a description. Like Kaufman's other films, it's funny in a subtle way, and more obviously sweet and romantic. Not to mention thought-provoking. If you could erase unpleasant memories, would you do it, if it changed the person you were? If we get rid of the pain, do we also get rid of the joy?

Michel Gondry is best known for his work on Bjork, Radiohead and White Stripes music videos -- deliciously strange ones. Somehow, he fits perfectly into directing "Eternal Sunshine...." A trip through a person's brain is a hard thing to manage, but he does it -- surreal little images like a teeny tiny Winslet and Carrey bathing in a kitchen sink, or lying on the ice. It's weird, and it works. At the same time, he can capture more mundane moments well.

Jim Carrey gives what may be his best "serious" role ever, as the conflicted, lovelorn Joel. Kate Winslet's Clementine breaks the mold of "romantic comedy heroine" with her free-spirited wackiness. Together, they make a flawed couple that you really want to see together. And Elijah Wood takes what could have been an empty role and turns Patrick into a rather pitiful, lonely figure, rather than a 2-D creep.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is not the best from Charlie Kaufman's fertile brain, but this melancholy dark comedy is well worth checking out. A wonderful, prismatic film. Read more ›