Jim Carrey ticks me off yet again...

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2004)

I really hate Jim Carrey.
Not the man himself, I've never met him and don't claim to know the first thing about him.
No, I hate several of the roles he's had and the public persona he's created for himself--the rubber-faced "wild and crazy guy", who's asinine, juvenile, derivative, and, worst of all, unfunny. I also hate the achingly pretentious, I'll-get-an-Oscar-somehow-Robin-Williams-did! Jim Carrey too.
But I really hate him, most of all, for making me admire him so much in this movie. Damn him for having so much talent after all!
He did something I've never seen him do before: he made me forget he was Jim Carrey. Like Robin Williams before him, he suddenly graduated from a comic who does movies to an actual actor, and a damn fine one at that.
It doesn't hurt that he's surrounded by so much talent, especially Kate Winslet, showing off just how chameleon-like the best British actors can be; Elijah Wood effectively distancing himself from Frodo; Kirsten Dunst playing shallow to start but somehow breaking your heart by the end; Tom Wilkinson playing the banal, brilliant, and benevolent doctor who turns out to be all-too-human; and of course, a brilliant, typically-original script from Charlie Kaufman (and director Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth).
I liked how the story limited itself to just the one science fiction element, and kept everything else realistic. Too often Hollywood forgets the idea of introducing one fantastic element ONLY in a story, and we end up with flying cars whizzing by. Removing the memory of an ex is, like all great SF/horror elements, just a metaphor; haven't we all, after a painful breakup, burned, thrown out, or destroyed all the precious little mementos of the affair in a desperate attempt to purge the whole thing from our brains? The story's not about the SF element, after all. It's about memory, the power of will, and of course, it's about relationships and love.
That's probably its greatest strength. This film has one of the most realistic depictions of a relationship that I've ever seen outside of real life. All the ugly arguments and ill-considered outbursts are there. But--and it's brilliant how these are only gradually revealed, and at least halfway through the film--so are the unexpected moments of connection, the sheer, unabashed delight in actually seeing inside the soul of another and having them see into you. And, ultimately, the necessary acceptance of the loved one's imperfections--and their acceptance of yours.
This is a great movie.
But I still hate Jim Carrey. Because he made me like him. Jerk.