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Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Michel Gondry

Reviewed by Lise Ching

We all have experiences we'd like to erase. Embarassing things we've said. Bad decisions. Even worse relationships. The money spent on seeing some of Jim Carrey's previous films. What if you could permanently remove these memories? Would you? Could you? And would you still be yourself without your past? Charlie Kaufman's brilliant screenplay explores these questions, and more in Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.

Director Michel Gondry expertly brings the mind of Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) to life, making excellent use of his music video training to create a trippy, mind-bending cinematic experience. Employing the swirling flow of plot and images of films like Memento and Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine jumps through the mind and memory of Joel Barish as he tries to remove lost love Clementine (Kate WInslet). The film's unique twist on the boy-meets-girl-boy-loses-girl theme left me intrigued, moved and ñ even more amazingly ñ a Jim Carrey fan.

Gone is Jim Carrey, Scenery Chewer. His subdued, honest portrayal of a man in turmoil allowed Winslet to be shine as the comedic relief. Gone are the rubber-faced antics of previous roles; although he does come dangerously close to shtick during the "childhood" scenes. The scene works as the larger than life set (imagine Carrey and Winslet bathing in a huge kitchen sink) balances out Carrey's larger than life personality.

I am not one to watch films repeatedly, but I would see this film again, if only to try to catch all of the cinematic tricks. As a memory begins to be erased, things disappear piece by piece ñ the writing on street signs, then the signs themselves; each slat on a fence flies out one by one. As Carrey is undergoing the brain cleansing, he can hear the voices of the technicians (played by Mark Ruffalo and Frodo Baggins, er... Elijah Wood). Taking full advantage of that "the audience is listening" experience, the vocals bounce from speaker to speaker in the theater.

The interconnectedness of our experiences and intimacies build who we are. As his memories began to disappear one by one, Barish realized that he wanted to keep Clementine in his life, even if it meant reliving painful memories. I was continually reminded of the expression, "It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

Rating:

(4 out of 4 stars)