Exploration of the true nature of a relationship.

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2004)

This film is, I believe, the most true cinematic portrayal of the nature of relationships that one will ever find. It is also one of the most intriguing explorations of memory and how we perceive it that I have seen. I feel that this is a movie where we can all identify with the emotions of the main characters, and that Winslet and Carrey portray the multi-layered feelings and personalities perfectly, drawing us into their minds and worlds.
Within Winslet's Clementine we can all see the flighty, impulsive, passionate sides of ourselves. And Carrey plays the introverted, frustrated, classic 'nice' guy Joel with unexpected ease. Beyond the two main characters, the rest of the cast creates a suitably mundane but skewed world in which the plot seems more expectable than implausible.

Cinematically, the look of the film was perfect for portraying the fluid and ironically inescapable world of dreams, and the lighting use floored me the first time I saw it. The creative camera angles and close shooting really serve to put us 'in' the movie, near enough to feel, if not quite touch, the emotions and characters.
While the premises of being able to erase a portion of your life is an intriguing one, my strongest emotive attachment to the movie was through the conundrum of the past failed relationship. Namely, if you knew what the problems and issues were that would one day force you apart, would you still choose to love and become involved with the person?
This movie touched me deeply. I believe that it's a movie everyone who plans to be in a relationship should see. And I would pick it as my favorite ever. Ten of ten, definitely.