A Date Movie For The Mensa Crowd

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2004)

Charlie Kaufman does it again...this guy is well on his way towards a whole separate chapter of his own in screenwriting history...highly unconventional time after time...maybe it's an acquired taste, and maybe he goes off the rails now and then, but this is definitively NOT the sort of linear storytelling you're used to...gotta applaud the sheer originality he brings to the table...
Kate Winslet's hair is the target of enough theatrical paint to cover a good sized Manhattan office building with 2 coats...beyond that, she puts in a helluva nuanced performance...Jim Carrey tones it way down except for one truly wacky scene in which he regresses to childhood...(that scene alone is worth the price of admission)...the supporting cast, in particular Mark Ruffalo, provide some unusual comic moments throughout the film...some acting nominations may be in the offing come awards time, but the screenplay is the real star of this film and director Michael Gondry does a nice job of assembling the pieces of this sci-fi tinged puzzle of a love story...