brilliant, breath-taking, highly original

Rating: 6/10 (17 November 2005)

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is a brilliant and highly original film, often provoking a lot of thought and revealing its plot gradually. It is, in my opinion, one of the best films of 2004.
It's hard to really summarize the plot without spoiling it because the film releases it gradually, but this is the best I can do without spoiling it. The film is about a couple who had been in a relationship and who had undergone psychological treatments to rid them of the painful memories so that they can start their separate life again. Little did they know that they are being brought back together by fate, and they soon realize what they had. The film also features a couple minor subplots, but you'll have to watch the film to see what they are.
I don't know how I'd classify this film. It's not quite a romance, and it's not quite science-fiction. But, it is probably the type of film any of us who have been in a painful relationship can relate to.
Artistic and well done in nearly every aspect, this film deserved more recognition than it received. (I only fault it slightly in that I was able to predict the plot quite early on - although others I saw the film with did not, and that it did go a little overboard with the ending and seemed to lose direction when the whole story before that was done beautifully.) However, I think it is an excellent film, despite the few (very few) faults. I highly recommend this film.