review: eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

After dinner, Rob, Danielle, Dave and I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the new Charlie Kaufman film. This was the first time seeing a movie in the city for me and I was a little put off by the price. I knew it was expensive, but I didn't know if it was going to be entirely worth it. It definately was.

The premise of the film is that Joel (Jim Carrey) goes in to get his memory of his ex-girlfriend, Clementine, erased because she erased him from her memory. The film retells their relationship backwards inside Joel's mind as his memories are being erased. As his memory is being wiped, he finds that there are specific memories that he wants to hold on to so he begins to fight the procedure.

Charlie Kaufman is best known for his work on Being John Malcovich and Adaptation. Malcovich was alright. I thought it was good, but there were moments when I felt that it was being weird for weird's sake. Going into Eternal Sunshine, I knew it was going to be weird, so be ready for some heady material.

Even though I thought Malcovich was good, it wasn't that good. Eternal Sunshine is far superior, and that's one of the reasons why it's so hard to talk about. The experience was so surreal that it's hard to talk about it. It's especially difficult to talk about without giving too much of the film away. There aren't many spoilers, per se, but the moments in the film are effective because you only know so much about their relationship.

Normally, I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey. I thought he was appropriate for certain roles, such as Ace Ventura, but after a few films, it was the same character over and over again. Not to say it was bad, but it just wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. His humor wasn't one that I found that amusing either. It was fun the first time around, but it got old, fast.

I've heard that he was really good in A Man on the Moon, but I hadn't seen it because of my prejudices of Jim Carrey. Up to this point, I had thought his role in the Cable Guy was his best role. It wasn't exactly the most dramatic role, but it was different enough from his other films. I think this is one of the reasons why not as many people liked it as they should have. They just weren't expecting this type of film.

My prejudice was actually the main reason I didn't want to see Eternal Sunshine. I had heard really good reviews of it though and was willing to put those aside.

All the other acting was spot on. Clementine has this manic quality to her which kind of put you off. But she was endearing as well. There's a sort of honesty there that makes her really fun and likeable.

This is one of the things that Kaufman does so well. He manages to create very unique quarky characters, at the same time, are very real and grounded. He manages to concoct situations and circumstances that challenges, not only his characters, but his audience as well.

The special effects to show Joel's crumbling memories are subtle and effective. Other directors have tried dealing with surrealism before with mixed results. Often times, they end up going too far and lack and hold in reality.

There's one scene, where Joel is chasing after Clementine on the street. He would run down one side walk to see his crashed car and that she was gone, then he'd turn around, see her, and chase her to only find that she's disappeared and there's the crashed car. It's subtle, but it portrays the confusion and the sense of deja vu when searching for memories. It also effectively shows the franticness of his thoughts as he tries to hold on to those precious precious memories of Clementine.

There are also other more subtle effects. There's this one scene where they're in a bookstore talking. This is one of the later scenes, so it's earlier in their relationship. They'r standing in the aisles talking. Initially, the books look like what you would see at a bookstore. Varied colors, titles and what not on the jackets. As the conversation progresses, the books begin to lose their substance. The transition from being full books, to these blank books, and eventually into just plain white boxes. It's very subtle but effective.

What's so touching about the film isn't so much the relationship between Joel and Clementine, but how hard and how desperately he holds on to the memories of it that he does have. Through his struggle to hold onto his memories, Joel shows just how much he cares and loves Clementine through his actions and his devotion.

The pacing of the film is excellent. You would think that, due to the subject matter, it would be a little more fast paced or more frantic, but the pacing is very deliberate. At no point do you feel that the film is going by too fast or that its dragging. The only scene that I can think of that probably could have been a little longer is the scene where they're lying on ice. It's a very touching scene that's revisited a few times. I think the extra weight at the beginning would have emphasized it a little more. There are a few other instances in the film where it could have used it, but as it is, it's fine.

Part of the reason why I want to see more moments like this is probably because of Lost in Translation.

It's a heady movie. It doesn't require you to piece as much together as Memento, but it still requires you to think non-chronologically. If you enjoyed Being John Malcovich or emotionally and intellectually engaging films, you should definately see this. If you're more of the type who likes to have things shoved down your throat in an easy to digest manner, then I'd say stay away.

I want to give this a 5/5, but there's something holding me back so I will give it a 4.75/5. It's up there, but it's not "perfect".