Bizarre, touching, and an entirely new manifestion of the romantic comedy

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2008)

This movie was not at all what I expected. I'd heard some very vague plot summaries, and what I had been able to deduce from this was "guy and girl erase each other from their memories and then fall back in love again" and it sounded like just another romantic comedy... Well in a sense that's the plot but it's like 10% of the whole movie.
I was surprised when I realized that the majority of this movie takes place in the main character's (Joel's) mind, as he goes from memory to memory of his relationship with his girlfriend Clementine while a bunch of doctor's assistants with problems of their own are erasing the memories one by one. This part of the movie is so bizarre, and yet so moving. It provides real insight in the nature of relationships, how we so often let the bad overshadow the good, and he only realizes this before it is too late and he can do nothing to stop them. I think this movie might not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found it quite refreshing and deep.
I definitely recommend that people give this quirky flick a chance.