Loved it.

Rating: Null/10 (31 March 2004)

Charlie Kaufman's movies are known for being a little off-kilter and are often surprisingly full of little life-lessons and questions to ponder. Having enjoyed his previous films and feeling elated by the cast of Eternal Sunshine, I went to the theatre fully expecting to enjoy the movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find it one of the most moving films I've seen in recent months/years/etc.
The premise of the film requires you to suspend disbelief just a bit. First Clementine and then Joel, having had a particularly tumultuous relationship, decide to have their memories of the other person erased in a special procedure performed in their homes by Dr. Mierwiak & his cohorts from Lacuna, Inc. We know that this is virtually impossible, but Kaufman wisely doesn't really explain how it works, other than some vague information about memory mapping and the like. We sort of forget that it really doesn't make much sense and just accept it.
When the movie opens, Joel and Clementine meet on a train coming back from Montauk. There is a strange vibe between them, each of them seeming to feel a sense of deja vu that they have perhaps met before. Clementine assumes she's seen Joel in the bookstore where she works. They hit it off, and she is on her way home with him, when Kaufman jerks us back in time. From then, we see Joel decide to retaliate to Clementine having had her memories of him erased by doing the same. He makes his appointment at Lacuna, and Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo show up to conk him out and clear his mind of Clementine.
For the rest of the film, we are part of a thrilling, heartwarming race through Joel's mind as his memories of Clementine are recalled and erased one by one, starting with the most recent and painful memories and working backwards to the more beautiful and touching memories. As Joel takes this journey and examines each memory (progressively becoming more beautiful), he begins to doubt his decision to have Clementine banished from his mind and tries to fight the procedure. It's both tragic and exciting, and I found myself rooting for Joel, hoping he could keep at least some tiny part of Clementine alive in his mind. The movie then returns us to where we were at the beginning; Joel and Clementine are faced with an interesting situation not long after their re-introduction on the train that calls everything into question. Are the bad times worth the potential good times? Can people change? Can memories truly be erased?
Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood are all impressive as the Lacuna employees working on Joel and finding things out about themselves along the way. Dunst's obsession with Dr. Mierzwiak leads to a surprising unveiling of truth that catapults the movie's final act. Ruffalo is adorable and pitiable as the nice guy who can't quite get the girl. Wood ventures down a new career path in a decidedly sad and creepy role, stealing Joel's memories in order to woo Clementine for his own.
Jim Carrey has finally come into his own here. As Joel, he is - perhaps for the first time in history - NOT Jim Carrey. In fact, I forgot for the entire film that he was Jim Carrey, which was so nice, especially when he did one scene as a small child and still managed to use new, never-before-seen tactics and avoid the usual Carrey-isms. It was wonderful and refreshing, and I think he achieved the acting status he's been looking for and nearly found with The Truman Show and Man on the Moon. In this movie, he's introspective, sad, quiet, withdrawn, misunderstood and frustrated. I felt for him at every turn and was thrilled at the end when he is given a second chance.
Kate Winslet, as always, was divine. She captured Clementine, a difficult, impulsive, moody woman, and over the course of two hours convinced me not to hate her, but rather to fall in love with her, just as Joel does all over again. Her personality seemed to change as often as her hair colors (which all looked fantastic on her, actually). I have long thought that she was one of the most fabulous actresses working in Hollywood, and this might be yet another year in which people take note of her talents.
What I loved most about the movie was that it really made you think - no matter how bad some memories are, would you ever want to forget someone? Would you be the same person if you could? Isn't it perhaps better to remember the painful things in order to be able to fully appreciate the positive things? I love the fact that, even though Joel and Clementine really do some terrible damage to each other, we still want to see them take another stab at it...which seems indicative of the fact that, even at our worst, we all have worth and can perhaps do better if given another chance. And if there isn't another chance, at least we can remember the good along with the bad and hopefully come away stronger.
9/10