March 2004

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Review This!

I want to review "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" so badly, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. After reading up on the film some I was easily able to overcome the fact that Jim Carrey, who ruins almost everything, is in it and get psyched to go see it. After all, it was written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. Kaufman wrote "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation". Gondry has directed a number of completely brilliant music videos, all total in their surreality. So that gave my snobby brain the desire to get to the theater.

The end result was that I liked it. A lot. Within about 20 minutes I remember thinking to myself, "wow, I love this, this is really special". Afterwards, I may have even told the girl I went to see it with that I might even be willing to join a cult about it (fortunately for me, my friends are well aware that I'm a hyperbolic jackass). So what I'm saying is that it's a terrific film. I liked it a lot.

Now if I can only qualify that somehow. The structure and nature of "Eternal Sunshine" is pretty bizarre, so it might take fancy footwork to explain it without ruining it.

The basic gist of the story is this: the two main characters, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) were in a fairly serious relationship. But one day they get in a fight and she goes off to some clinic and gets her memory of him erased. He finds out, gets pissed, and does the same thing. Then they meet again by chance.

The majority of the film is the dreamscape of Joel's memories being erased, in reverse order of occurrence. This is the kind of surreal scenery that the director really excels at dealing with. Oh, and the writer. Through this device, Joel is able to comment on his memories as they are being erased. The closer the erasing come to the point where he fell in love with Clementine, the more Joel comes to believe he's making a huge mistake. He was able to realize that he loved her no matter what. Sadly, there was nothing he could do about it, as he was asleep with his memories being erased. This realization in the mind of the viewer is one of the most bittersweet and tragic experiences I've ever had watching a film. I saw how precious love was as Joel did, then had to watch it evaporate.

I've never seen this kind of spherical examination- from so many angles- of love. We see the good, the bad, and the tragic. In such a fresh way, at that. And with such visceral detail. It's not hard to feel Joel's frustration and heartbreak once he realizes the tragedy of what he's done. I could almost feel it. I'm amazed I didn't audibly gasp when I fully realized the implications of Joel's actions. It makes it all that much more heartbreaking that the memories he's losing are the kind of mundane but lovely things one remembers about somebody they've so intimate with, like a conversation in bed and a stroll on the beach.

Of course, the central device of this story is absurd. A memory erasing clinic. But it seems to natural within the story that I never really questioned it. Though it could be that central absurdity that makes the story that much more interesting, much like a great Vonnegut story.

What I've failed to mention is that "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" also manages to be funny through all of the heavy emotional content. And not only in the obvious confusion you'd expect to encounter in such a dreamscape, though this does provide a great deal of the humor. But much of the credit has to go to the characters themselves.

Jim Carrey seems to be able to act. He's perfect in it. He's very shy and brings in humor with actual subtlety. Conversely, he didn't even really seem to be acting in this film. He just seemed like a natural person. I suppose that what acting is all about. I wouldn't know, I'm a phony.

Kate Winslet does a great job as well. Her character is at least as inherently confusing and frustrating as any woman is to any man. She plays the part well- perfectly brashly, and with a flawless American accent (though obviously, Americans speak without an accent and the English fancy up their own language because they are insecure).

Oh, and David Cross has a brief roll in it as a pothead. Not a stretch, but I tend to think bonus points should always be awarded to a film for having David Cross in it. It shows that the filmmakers are making a very specific attempt to please me, and I appreciate that. If you don't know who David Cross is, that's really your problem. And I mean it is a problem.

But like I said, I like this movie a lot. I could even be convinced to join a cult about it. Or at least see it a second time.