Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Rating: Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Jim Carrey Kate Winslet Tom Wilkinson Elijah Wood Complete Cast (12 total)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Reviews

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Erasing the pain of love.
In "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," Jim Carrey plays Joel Barish, a nebbishy and depressed man who has difficulty articulating his feelings. Into his life comes Clementine Kruczynski, played charmingly by the versatile Kate Winslet. Unlike Joel, Clementine is free-spirited and impulsive. Yet, somehow, the two connect and they enter into a relationship. When she starts to tire of Joel, Clementine undergoes a procedure to erase him from her mind, and Joel, in turn, decides to erase Clementine from his mind. Much to his dismay, Joel discovers that forgetting Clementine is much easier said than done.

The inimitable Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay for "Sunshine" and it is a doozy. The story is told out of sequence, and fantasies are intertwined with "real" events. Much of the movie takes place in Jim Carrey's memory. Michel Godry, the director, and Ellen Kuras, the cinematographer, lend a surrealistic and kaleidoscopic aura to this film that may leave viewers breathless and off-balance.

All of the actors are fine, especially Tom Wilkinson as the seemingly staid doctor who makes a good living erasing memories, and Kirsten Dunst as his ditsy blonde nurse. Ultimately, however, the movie belongs to Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. They beautifully portray two lonely and vulnerable people who take a big risk to find love.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is an original, intriguing, and challenging experience. You may leave the theatre confused or exhilarated or both, but you will not soon forget this mind-bending film.

Better and Bettererer...
It's so refreshing to see an entertaining, thoughtful and poignant movies these days - it's even more remarkable to find the star is...Jim Carrey?? Carrey turns in the performance of his career here, eclipsing even "The Truman Show". He is restrained and believable, doesn't try to hog the screen and never once pulls a funny face. While Adam Sandler's attempts to "go straight" have never really captured the imagination, Carrey pulls it off here with style and aplomb.
The master plot is all but given away by the trailers and reviews, but it doesn't really matter - within the first 4 minutes there's certain clues and spoilers that give it away anyway. However, this movie is more about the wild ride than the final destination. The subplots twist and turn, the timeline jumps around in a way not seen since "Memento", the camera work appears handheld and shaky, adding to the dream-like quality of the movie, while the special effects, (people disappearing mid frame), and especially the sound effects (disembodied voices from the present appearing in memories of the past) mean that this movie has to be seen in the theatre to be truly appreciated.
I've always been a little turned off by Charlie Kaufman's scripts - too self aware, too postmodern- writing ones-self into the screenplay? Twice? Too self indulgent. This movie seems to start off like his own personal wet dream - A nice, sensitive, budding artist meets a hot, crazy arty girl on a train and she then repeatedly comes on to him even though he's too shy to respond to her advances? Besides, how many other movie writers can you name? Thankfully the (loooong) opening sets up the film, rather than defining it - it gets much, much better so bear with it!
I won't spoil the plot for you, but the sci-fi memory-removal stuff works really well as a metaphor for breaking up with a lover. Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? That's the real question the movie addresses, and if you've ever asked yourself that you should go see this movie!

P.S. On a personal note, the movie was made even more freaky for me as I saw an ex-girlfriend outside the theatre and she walked right past as if she didn't know me!! Makes you think, eh?

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