A very good film; script deceptively mainstream, considering that it's Kaufman

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2004)

spoilers warning !!
Comparison of Eternal Sunshine with two other films based on Kaufman's scripts is inevitable. While all three are oozing creativity, Being John Malkovich is still the best, because of the richness of its contents (some even say that it's trying to tackle too many subject matters). Adaptation I do not particular appreciate, because of its lack of coherence. As to Sunshine, while many will undoubtedly disagree, I would suggest that it is so mainstream that it is the most un-Kaufman. This however does not take anything away from its brilliance.
The plot is creative but nowhere near Being JM in originality. Movies about what goes on in the mind are quite common (even the incumbent Governor of California has appeared in one). Nor is temporal displacement a rare treat now, not after Memento and 21 Grams. Beside, what Sunshine does in that department is really quite mild. Strip away the dazzling camera technique, dexterity of editing and imaginative visual composition, Sunshine is an affecting story of two lovers trying to erase the other from their mind, except that this time it is literally.
The main body of the story, which is the approximately 70% of the movie in the middle, occurs with Joel (Jim Carrey) lying in his apartment with his brain wired to the memory erasing machine. The story progresses on two levels: what goes on in Joel's mind and the actual physical happenings of the team around him working on erasing the memory of Clem (Kate Winslet) from his mind. The two levels are brilliantly connected. In the first place, Joel is aware, in a certain layer of his consciousness, what goes on around him (for example, he can hear them). Then, what happens around him has bearing on his life, not only in the narrow context of the team carrying out his instructions. For example, one team member is trying to pick up Clem, a most unethical and unprofessional behaviour. Even more importantly, another team member's own personal woes prompts her to actions that lead to a renewal of his relationship with Clem.
Despite the dazzling presentation, the vicissitude of the relationship between the pair, depicted mainly as what goes on in Joel's mind during the erasing process, is a familiar path that most people have walked. There is also a hidden symmetry in the movie: while we are not privy to the earlier process of Clem erasing Joel from her mind, it should be quite similar to Joel's. There is symmetry, however, at the end, when they hear the tape recording of how they talked about each other before the erasing process: honest to the point of hurting but not without room for tolerance and reconciliation.
The two leads, not always a sure-fire, both score on this one. Carrey plays an uncharacteristically subdued role, coming across more like Ewan McGregor, just as McGregor comes across like Carrey in Big Fish. Winslet, as usual, fares much better here in slightly offbeat roles (e.g. Holy Smoke) than in main stream ones (e.g. Titanic).
The supporting cast that plays the memory erasing team deserves full attention. Veteran Tom Wilkinson, who is worth watching every time, plays the owner of the memory erasing outfit. Mark Ruffalo, after the sensuous detective in In The Cut, plays a typical IT-guy-next-door, bringing out the sensitivity and kindness underneath a very ordinary character. Kirsten Dunst, no longer the razor-sharp protégé in Mona Lisa Smile, starts out as another next-door type character, non-essential and dismissible, until it turns out that she has her own little story which indirectly put her in a pivoting role in the development of the plot. Elijah Wood, the last member fo the team, is also more than what meets the eyes.
In conclusion, despite the summary line, this is good vintage Kaufman, second only to Being John Malkovich.