'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' Review

This is a weird one. The opening of this movie begins similar to The Matrix, with an exasperated and deeply unhappy 'Average Joe' trying to find meaning in life. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) decides to skip out on work feeling a sudden urge to take the train to Montauk, New York where he runs into Clementine (Kate Winslet), a girl with dyed hair and whom gives off the 'alternative' vibe. Joel has trouble sustaining eye contact/conversation with her (as with most girls, he notes). Clementine takes little issue with Joel's bashfulness and finds a way to help him out of his shell.

This opening is later revealed to be an event taking place after a year or so of Joel and Clementine dating. Here's the rub: Both their memories were erased using a memory-wipe technology intended for couples trying to forget a relationship gone wrong. They have both willingly enlisted the hope of this service, a service in which the patient agrees to comatose for a night as the doctor isolates the specific memories using of heat map of sorts.

Much like the opening drawing parallels to The Matrix the whole idea of exploring consciousness is at the crux of this film. I find it interesting how prominent an idea that was in the late 90's/early 2000's. It seeped its way into film and our everyday reflection. But, this film presents the concept in a relatable way: forgetting a bad breakup. The concept sounds rather mundane on it's face, but Joel becomes self-aware while he goes 'under treatment' and realizes he has made a terrible mistake. He suddenly realizes that if he escapes his thoughts, he can recover the lost memories. Even as I'm typing this, I realize it may seem a bit high-brow, but the director Michel Gondry conveys to the audience every plot point in a palatable way.

This movies works for me on a number of levels. The whole 'guy gets girls, loses girl, gets girl back' cliche style of storytelling can get old, but it works and in this case, is turned on its head. I also think the casting for this movie was really strong. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett don't exactly seem like the ideal couple, but their chemistry is evident. Lastly, I enjoy the unexpected in films, and the non-linear storytelling really did it for me. It isn't always smart to confuse your audience, but when you feel as though you're in good hands, it works brilliantly.

So, overall, very well done. I'm always curious about the writing process for screenwriters, but this one especially piques my interest. Charlie Kaufman wrote a masterpiece much like Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and I can see Kaufman pulling from various films in the 7 or so years that preceded this one.

Streaming: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or available to Rent

Matt's Rating: 8.8/10