A movie I admired more than liked

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2004)

The plot is original: Joel finds out that Clementine has erased him from her memory. In revenge, he tries to have her erased from his memory, but then realizes he doesn't want to lose all the memories of her. The movie doesn't follow a chronological sequence; it is one of those movies where everything makes sense at the end. I usually like movies that keep me guessing till the end, but this isn't one of them. I mean, I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's a movie that I admire more than like.
I know people will disagree with me, but one of the reasons for my lukewarm approval of the movie is, simply, it tries too hard to be smart. Don't get me wrong, it is a smart movie with some terrific writing, but as the movie wore on, I sort of lost patience with it. For example, there are many scenes showing Joel and Clementine's relationship that are deliberate placed out of order. For the first hour or so, it worked for me because it was interesting, and I had never seen anything like it. But I felt some scenes just felt out of placeif you can understand the `humiliation' scene, please explain it to me.
Despite my reservations with the plot, I thought the movie was very well-acted. Jim Carrey gives a great, nuanced performance  sad, happy, tired. He looks very weathered in the movie and it works here. Kate Winslet also gives a great performance. Her impulsive, spunky Clementine is the perfect compliment to Carrey's despair. The supporting characters are also fantastic, particularly Tom Wilkinson as the doctor, and Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo as his assistants. I didn't like Kirsten Dunst, though; she irritated the hell out of me.
Don't let my opinions stop you from seeing this movie. It's one of those movies that you like a lot or you like a little. And, to its credit, it's the most original movie so far this year. The most enjoyable? Maybe not.