Weird though he seems to be, Charlie Kaufman has done at least one good thing for
movies. He's brought back wonder. Anticipation of a movie by Kaufman makes me
wonder what new strangeness he will present. And leaving a movie by Kaufman
finds me still wondering what the film is about, like Being John Malkovich and
Adaptation. The title--Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind--comes from a poem by
18th Century British poet Alexander Pope called "Eloisa to Abelard," and like the
romance of that ill-fated couple, the movie is about the bizarre twists and turns
of relationships.
Jim Carey stars as the lack luster Joel Barish whose relationship with Clementine
Kruczynski is in trouble. But when he goes to her workplace armed with a gift
and an apology, she doesn't know who he is. Seems she has had her memory erased
by an operation named Lacuna, check it out at lacunainc.com if you want to try it
for yourself. Joel decides that two can play that game, and promptly gets his
memories of Clementine erased as well, only to discover half way through the
process that he doesn't want to forget the wonderful, impulsive, crazy girl who
drives him insane.
French Director Michel Gondry lets his imagination run away with ours as Joel's
memories are erased in a sometimes thrilling, sometimes creepy dabbling into the
human mind. It's difficult to avoid the surreal but Gondry takes us beyond Dali
to create something highly believable, in a Kaufman kind of way.
Jim Carey is quite brilliant as Joel, if brilliance can be used to describe
control. There are no distracting Carey-isms in this role--the goofy faces and
noises are gone--he's back to acting ala The Truman Show, without relying on his
characteristic slapstick. As Clementine, Kate Winslet is also quite effective.
Outshone by her incredible mainstream success in Titanic, Winslet's forte is for
unusual roles where she demonstrates her skill and courage as an actor.
I felt almost disappointed midway through the movie when I worked out what was
going on with the plot, since Kaufman usually keeps me guessing. Then it dawned
on me that he means for viewers to catch on. That way we're able to start to
relate to the characters. Despite it's weirdness--and trust me, it's
weird--Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ends up being a movie most people can
identify with. It's a relationship movie without the glib plotline, but with an
abundance of heart and soul that affirms the importance of mistakes in our
humanity.
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