Wow! Jim, I didn't know you had it in you!

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2005)

This is probably my favorite Jim Carrey movie. In this film we see a strangely subdued and vulnerable Jim Carrey not being up to his usual tricks and it works beautifully. We saw some of Carrey's dramatic potential in The Truman Show (also an excellent Jim Carrey film) but in this one he goes all out. Dramatically speaking. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is above all a love story but it does indeed have an interesting approach to the subject. I don't want to give a summary of the film and I don't think it would be entirely possible because being a true Charlie Kaufman (the writer) movie its really kind of weird and at some points you have no idea what is happening. However, unlike Being John Malkovich (1999) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind doesn't seem quite as pretentious in spite of the fact that it stares more mainstream actors as the main characters.
The acting is top notch. Jim Carrey has his performance of a lifetime and truly proves that the type casting he usually seems to be a victim of can be broken. I have never seen Jim Carrey in a role like this before and I must admit going into the film I had my doubts about his abilities (I am not saying I don't enjoy his acting generally speaking I just didn't know if Carrey could go all the way through with it) but my concerns were quickly put to rest. Carrey's performance is spot on and his emotional range is considerable. Kate Winslet plays the female lead and having only seen her in Titanic prior to this film I thought she would suck. She didn't, however and I was happy to hear that she had been nominated for an Oscar because her performance is worthy of one. Her performance seems very genuine and above all real. Her reactions are totally believable and her on screen chemistry with Carrey is incredible. Very, very well done. Elijah Wood stares in this film as well and the people who have only seen him in The Lord of the Rings are in for a big surprise because (wisely) Wood is putting as much distance between him and the Frodo character so he won't get type casted as the good guy. Believe me his performance is pretty different. Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo are in the film as well and while Dunst was never a good actress her performance in this film is passable. Ruffalo is pretty good and his scenes with Elijah Wood in particular are pretty interesting. Last but not least Tom Wilkinson is in the film as well. His character is pretty limited but Wilkinson does an amazing job with the character and steals almost every scene he is in.
The film has a very interesting and well told story. The final outcome isn't always apparent and this is a good thing as it keeps the audience on its toes through the duration of the film which is about 1½ hour. Even though the film is relatively short it has a lot of material crammed into it. Both story wise but also visually and you have to watch the film twice because of these two things. The film is actually better the second time you see it because by then you will know the basic story and can therefore pay more attention to the details and there are many of them. Even though I have seen the film quite a few times now (I never seem to get tired of it) I still catch up on some new ones with every viewing. This is what I think marks a good film. The fact that you can watch it again and it can still both surprise you and find new ways of entertaining the audience. In addition to being constantly surprising the visual style has a very fresh and original feel and at some times you get the feeling that the director had a lot of fun with the visual elements and this enthusiasm rubbed off on me as I watched the film and it makes the film very enthralling.
In conclusion Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best films I have ever seen. It was for a while on my top 10 of best films and even though it isn't any more it is still a very entertaining, thought inducing film that deserves all the praise it has gotten so far. I heartily agree with its rating on IMDb and I hope that people who watch the film in the future will watch it with an open mind and not expect another Jim Carrey comedy because it isn't. I recommend the film to all lovers of quite weird films because it certainly has its moments of sheer weirdness but it never loses track of its characters and where its taking the viewer. All in all.
9/10