Simply brilliant in all dimensions of the word

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2004)

I had no idea what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about until the end of March. I had heard some small rumblings about it around the Internet for a few months, and also saw a few short TV trailers for it, but that was about it. Basically, all I knew was it was another dramatic Jim Carrey film, written by the same guy who wrote two of the weirdest and somehow great films to come out in a long time, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. But does this film succeed to be just as weird yet excellent as the other two? Or is it even better? A big yes on both counts would be highly appropriate.
The film's main protagonist is Joel (Jim Carrey). He was in a relationship with the very free-spirited Clementine (Kate Winslet), but slowly, they began to pull apart. So, the very impulsive Clementine decides to have a wicked new procedure done to herself in which every memory of Joel is erased from her brain. Of course, Joel fails to find out right away, and only thinks upon various attempts to try to speak to her that she is simply just completely ignoring him. That is until, he finds out about the procedure from friends who were supposed to be keeping it a secret.
The company performing the procedures is called Lacuna Inc. Upon heading to Lacuna for answers, Joel finds out from the head doctor, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), that he cannot be given any whatsoever, as everything is confidential. The Doctor does however, tell Joel the details of the procedure that Clementine had. After some passing time, Joel decides to have the operation done to him, on the night before Valentine's Day. So Joel goes home that night, takes the special pills given to him and falls asleep on his bed. It is then that Mierzwiak's assistants at Lacuna enter in to perform the procedure.
What follows from here, is a seamless blend of both memories of Clementine and Joel within Joel's head, and the real world where Patrick, Stan and Mary (Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst respectively) are performing the procedure on Joel, as well as doing random things around his house. Only everything doesn't go so sweet. After the procedure's initial reactions begin to set in, Joel isn't as enthusiastic as he once was about having it done. So he begins to try to fight off the erasure. This begins to complicate things for the assistants working on him and serves for the main basis of where the film goes from that point.
Despite how complicated and bizarre the film may sound, it still is a great and maybe even brilliant film. All the actors shine brightly in their performances, especially Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. I don't think I've ever seen these two as good as they are in this, both within and outside Joel's head. Their chemistry and romance comes off very well on screen as well as being very believable. The writing is also just as good, if not even better. It must take quite the effort to continue to write films such as these, but the writer, Charlie Kaufman, is seemingly getting better and better with his scripts. By the same token, the scripts are getting stranger and stranger.
The editing and look of the film is very well done as well. The film is quite jumpy in many instances, looping back and forth from activity in Joel's brain to the real world outside of it. The way the imagery is shown is quite stylish, and truly shows the complete agonizing nightmare Joel is going through. It is evident that a great deal of time was spent on the final product of the film both by the editors and the director, Michel Gondry. Although Gondry hasn't had a hit film as of yet, he does show off his excellent film-making skills with this film. Hopefully, this director will continue to excel with films like these and become much more mainstream as the years go on.
I have nothing but praise for the film. It is definitely a must see. The complete brilliance of every aspect of the film is far superior to many of the "hit mainstream" films being released in theatres these days. It can even be considered as a very early candidate for the best picture of the year. If you have the chance to see it, this film is not to be missed.
10/10.