Out of left field ...?

Rating: 7/10 (29 November 2004)

Michel Gondry is without question a peerless craftsman. His commitment to visual excitement is unmatched. Charles Kaufman seems to be opposite of Gondry in many ways. Whereas his meandering storytelling allows for lots of visual experiments, it leaves a lot to be desired in congruency. Kaufman writes weak stories - but he is big on "wonderment" - which would make teaming up with Spielberg a big payday for him. This movie is pseudo- intellectual in that is obviously inspired by a random quote from an obscure 18th century British poet. I am not convinced that the writer is some authority on Alexander Pope. The films premise is stunted because the driving force behind it should be the 'memory erasing technology', which is never defined for the audience. In the 1981 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, there is a defined concept of memory remnants that are artificially installed in human(oid) replicas. Having clearly defined a thriving world of cloning in a neo-futuristic setting the audience is comfortable with whatever grows from (that) backbone of reason. Being categorised as a COMEDY does not exempt 'SPOTLESS' from this crucible of relevance. Thus the film is a failure in this regard. Jim Carey is perfect as the protagonist/victim; Kate Winslet looks great suppressing her upper-British accent; Kirsten Dunst and the other supporting cast are seemingly contrived and annoying for the most part. Once again, Gondry prevails here having his way, flexing his visual muscle. A director's film for sure .