Way too strange.

Rating: 1/10 (1 February 2005)

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' has an unnecessarily long title and is way too strange and convoluted to take seriously. It is understandable to show a story told from a different perspective, but a filmmaker has to set limits. It makes no sense in trying to confuse the audience as much as you can. That does not make the film intelligent or original. 'Eternal Sunshine..' is too full of itself; it says, 'look how creative I am, telling this story in such an odd way. I dare you to figure it out'. Nobody will gain anything if the filmmakers are trying to make the audience look stupid. It only creates an exaggerated ego for those who do understand it.
The story is about two lovers who decide to erase the memory of each other. When they are erased from each other's memory, they find themselves drawn back to each other by sheer chance. I think one point the film is trying to make is that true love is a destiny. Two people are drawn to each other because there is something greater is at work, bringing lovers together. Fantastic idea, but it can be told in much simpler ways than done in this movie. The idea shouldn't be expressed in the over-the-top way that it was done in 'Eternal Sunshine..'. Good performances by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, an unlikely pair bringing chemistry to the screen, but even they couldn't save this jumbled mess.