A great film for those in love, out of love, on the verge of break up or just broken up and philosophers

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2006)

When i first heard of this film it didn't interest me that much, other than it had Jim Carrey in it, and i usually watch his films because i get a good laugh. But this film didn't need his classic comedy to make it great, it had his ability to put himself into any situation and make it seem real, that is what makes it work so well.
I only decided to watch this film because i am studying philosophy and i am very interested in the mind-body relationship and how it is dealt with by different people.
In this film, Joel (Jim Carey) has part of his memories erased. He has this done because his relationship ended with the woman he was in love with. He didn't want to have all those wonderful memories of her and not have her, so he wants them erased. I'm sure many people have wanted this to be done to them, their memories, of all these great things that you can't have and don't want to be reminded of anymore because you can't have them, erased. It would surely make life easier, or would it? This film doesn't completely explore what would happen if you had your memories erased but it explores what might happen if they were being erased. The vision of the writers/directors of this film really helped the viewer understand what was going on. The memory literally being erased, and Joel not wanting that memory to be erased and running from it like one would from a fear. The idea of hiding in another memory is such a great idea, and it shows that Joel starts to realise that it is not just a memory that is being erased from him, it is part of him that is being erased. He is running from the choice he made.
Turning to the argument between physicalists and dualists. This film seems to suggest that the mind, our memories, are held somewhere in the brain, as this is where the "Doctors" are locating and erasing the memories from. But the problem with this is that you cannot open Joel's brain and find Joel, he is not in there as we are shown he is. But one might say that what we are seeing is a representation of what he is remembering, but the counter-argument to that is that when you remember something don't you see an image, smell a smell, hear a sound, etc? Where is this platform that this memory is being played out on? Maybe Dr Howard (Tom Wilkinson) locates the memory through the brain and is able to erase from the mind in this way, but this means he has reached some understanding of what the mind is and it would be very helpful if he shared that with the rest of us who are struggling to figure it out, hehe.
Maybe he hasn't figured out what the mind is, and maybe he doesn't erase the memories from the mind because he makes the point that all items and objects that could remind Joel of his relationship to be taken away so his memories don't come back. Clementine (Kate Winslet) has this experience of familiar experiences when Patrick (Elijah Wood) (who has taken advantage of her situation to start dating her and using Joel's objects to get know her prior and thus her liking him) and starts to get de-ja-vu. Could this mean our memories are held in our brains and minds? When we erase it from one area we might be able to access from the other by familiarity. This seems like a valid argument for the movie as Joel and Clementine do seem to recognise something in each other after their memories are erased but it only comes clear when Mary (Kirsten Dunst) reveals it to them.
This is a sweet, dark, joyful, philosophical movie to watch and i recommend it to anyone.
Jim Carrey's performance is en-capturing and Kate Winslet portrays a vibrant young person very well.