This movie should have been nominated for all Oscars!!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2005)

Forget about "Collateral" when you are talking about the best movie of 2004. Everybody who thinks "Collateral" should have won the Oscars for best movie and best performance, really doesn't know what he's saying... "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is by far the best movie I've seen that year. That doesn't mean that Collateral isn't a good movie, because it is and yes I liked it, but it never was as great as this one.
It's some kind of love story, but it's completely refreshing and hasn't used any of the standard clichÃ©s you'll see so often in romantic Hollywood movies. It's sober, it's emotional, it's happy and sad together, it's captivating, ... , it's just indescribable! I liked "Being John Malkovich", but "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is even a lot better. There are some similarities between the two: both movies show us the thoughts of someone else, like if we are experiencing them ourselves. But "Being John Malkovich", is completely crazy, while "ESOFSM" offers a more realistic view on the subject.
Jim Carrey's character is just an ordinary guy, so hurt by the one he loves that he tries whatever is possible to erase her from his mind. His girlfriend has already had her mind erased by a company and now doesn't know anything about him anymore. He decides to do the same, but as he goes on with the procedure he realizes that, even though his relationship with her wasn't always great, he just doesn't want to erase her from his mind. The fact that we all know the feelings he is going through is probably the main reason why we all like this movie so much. Also the message that when you erase your mind, history is likely to repeat itself, really ads an extra touch to the movie.
If you ask me this movie should have won all Oscars, but I'm not a member of the jury of course. The acting was great, Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey were absolutely astonishing. The concept was refreshing and original. The movie had really everything to offer that I want: a laugh and a tear, a good message and a great feeling afterward, even though the ending was perhaps a little bit too slow. Too often I see bad movies, but once in a while you'll find a gem between all the ugly rocks. This is 2004's gem. I give it a 10/10.