"By morning, you'll be gone..."

Rating: 9/10 (1 July 2005)

Charlie Kaufman has done two movies now that take personality bending to a new level. In Adaptation, he wrote himself and his imaginary twin brother into a story about white orchids, and here in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman plays "what if" with two people who are really in love but only remember the bad times and decide to have each other erased from their memories. This is a movie the viewer needs to see more than once, probably more than twice, to comfortably experience the film. Kaufman and director Michel Gondry plays with the time line of the film, and on first viewing, it's sometimes difficult to separate what is happening now and what has already happened. Seeing the film a second time will help the viewer understand the story, but the emotional feelings remain the same. The great revelation of film is that two people have a relationship for a reason, and unfortunately, we only remember the bad times, and forget the good times. For the characters in Eternal Sunshine, this revelation comes way too late for them, and there is a sense of desperation as they try to hang on to the memories they have. Jim Carrey plays Joel Barish who is a quiet, laid back guy who meets Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), a wild child who's spontaneity scares, yet intrigues, Joel. Carrey once again shows that he's not just a comedic actor, but rather a serious all-around actor. He immerses himself into the character Joel, making us forget this is the same guy who was the Cable Guy. Winslet received an Oscar nomination for her job as Clematine, and it's deserved. She relays Joel's desperation in the last third of the movie, heightening the emotional roller coaster this movie takes us on. After one fight too many, each seeks out Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) who is able to remove the memories of anyone from a person's brain. Joel's procedure is lead by Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Elijah Wood), but turns out to be difficult case. This leads to a subplot involving Dr. Howard and his secretary Mary (Kirsten Dunst) that ultimately leads to a crushing final act to the film. It's a powerful and appropriate finale, where the characters understand where they stand, and their decision makes total sense. Kaufman and Gondry won an Oscar for this original screenplay, featuring a story that is science fiction, and like most great works of science fiction, is not really about the science, but rather the results of technology. Eternal Sunshine is a movie where there is much more than what appears on the screen; each viewer can put themselves into the film, identify with the situations they recall, and perhaps leading the viewer to remember those good times that we each take for granted.