Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind DVD > Reviews > Carrey On Acting

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	well cast, visually astounding, satisfying story
Disadvantages:	misleading trailer

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The reason I went to see this movie was the title. I thought it was quite clever, incredibly pretentious, but clever. And once I caught the trailer and its spectacular weirdness, I was convinced that I absolutely-had-to-see-this-movie-and-noone-was-going-to-stop-me. And I loved it, despite expecting some sort of quirky comedy, and getting instead an incredibly unpredictable and twisted romance.

And, naturally, when I came across articles about said movie, I read them, and quite quickly too, soon discovering that the screenplay was written by none other than Charlie Kaufman. “And what’s so great about him?” I hear a few of you ask. Well, this chap is responsible for, amongst other great movies, Being John Malkovich, which just so happens to be one of my favourite movies ever. He also has every remaining Great Idea for a Movie stored inside his crazily imaginative head. Accompanying him is Michel Gondrey, the director of this fine picture. His previous film work was Human Nature, a movie I’m told that I’m lucky to have missed, but he’s much better known as a music video director. And is rather good at it too.

So with all signs pointing to good, let’s movie onto the story. The problem with discussing the plot in this movie, as with virtually any Kauffman movie, is that you’re better off not knowing. Really. A great deal of the enjoyment of this film is figuring out exactly what is going on. But in the interests of having a complete review: When Joel (Jim Carrey), a shy introverted guy, randomly decides to call in sick to work and take a trip to Montauk instead, he meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), a blue-haired, adventurous sort. There’s something between them, something that the rest of the film explains to us, but put as simply as I can manage: Clementine has had her memories of their relationship erased, and Joel follows suit, but as he recalls the happier times he spent with Clementine, he finds himself fighting to keep those memories.

And it’s inside Joel’s memories that most of the film takes place. This leads to some fantastic sequences ranging from moments tender enough to make you wish you’d worn waterproof mascara (ahem) to scenes that give you a genuine desire to shrink back in your seat and wish you’d something more than a half-filled coffee cup to hide behind. Here we find lush cinematography and a director who puts his experience in music videos to good use. There are many gorgeous touches to the scenes, with the ones showing the erasure of Joel’s memories the most evocative: we see books disappear as he talks to Clementine, and he finds himself in disturbing distortions of his memories where everyone’s face is now blank flesh.

But though we witness shiny special effects, the core of the film is the performances. Kate Winslet is an actress I admire a great deal. I think she’s extraordinary, and here I found her bringing an immense likeability to Clementine, a woman who hides her deep insecurities behind her free spirited exterior. Meanwhile Jim Carrey, who I was never particularly impressed by until I saw The Truman Show, is just jaw droppingly astonishing. He can’t just act, he can act brilliantly – I really can’t imagine any other actor playing the part of Joel in such a genuinely moving way (this is possibly a slight exaggeration). A great deal of the movie’s impact lies in the relationship between these two characters, and Carey and Winslet are more than capable of showing us why they are together, bringing us a relationship that is bizarre, touching and oh so very real.

The best of the supporting cast are Tom Wilkinson, as the doctor responsible for inventing the memory erasure procedure, and Kirsten Dunst, playing his secretary. Wilkinson is an actor who rarely puts a foot wrong and plays his part with a likeable geniality, belaying a darker side. Meanwhile Dunst turns in an unexpectedly good performance managing both the humorous moments for her character and making a particular scene at towards the end remarkably touching.

Eternal Sunshine has all of the weird creativity that has suffused Kauffman’s previous scripts, but this is a story that is ultimately more satisfying as it refuses to stumble at the third act and carries us straight through to its glorious finish. This is a movie that manages to be poignant, showing all the little quirks of a relationship and its darker moments, without ever coming across as saccharine. The arguments and bickering of the characters are as familiar as the beautiful moments we see when they believe that no other moment will ever be as perfect again. There’s a sincerity and realism present here that makes for utterly compelling viewing.

With a cast that’s pitch-perfect, an extraordinary story to tell, stunning cinematography, dazzling special effects and a director who has a very good idea of what he’s doing, this is a remarkable film: rich and fantastic, bittersweet and deep, and quite, quite brilliant. At its heart, this is a love story, but it is explored from the aspect of memory. We are asked to evaluate what our memories are and how they affect our lives, as we watch two deeply flawed characters fighting to keep alive a relationship that we realise, despite all the pain that has been caused, is worth something: if not to be saved, then to be remembered.