Excellent, but not a classic in my opinion

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2012)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tells the story of a collapsed relationship. After Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) have an argument they break up and Joel soon discovers that Clementine has had her memory of him wiped. In a fit of rage Joel decides to go through the same procedure but whilst his memories of her begin to fade Joel realises how much he loves / likes Clementine and tries, in his strange unconsciousness to stop to the operation from taking effect.
In terms of directing, the film is amazing, I loved the way it was shot - it was very clever and I thought quite beautiful at times. Script wise the same is true, the way in which Joel's memories are woven together is brilliant. On the surface what seems a very simple idea is actually incredibly well put together. The music, from Jon Brion, was also great and very apt. The way in which these three are put together is phenomenal, you'll want to laugh or cry and many times I couldn't help but break out a strange, very satisfied smile just because I was enjoying it so much.
What I think maybe let this film down for me personally, was the kind of average acting. I thought Jim Carrey was good, but not amazing, I was just pleased he wasn't in his usual very slapstick type role. The same was true for Kate Winslet and the other characters in the film, they were all good but not amazing. I think a classic film should have characters that feel irreplaceable, for example I can't imagine anyone else but John Goodman and Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, Russell Crowe in Gladiator or Clint Eastwood and co. in The Good, The Bad and The ugly. Admittedly there isn't a huge amount of drama in this film but there is some and its just done averagely.
There were also two bits that bothered me. Firstly, Joel lies about the manner in which he met Clementine and then in his memory its as he described, not as it happened. Its probably me just being stupid and missing something but that didn't really make sense. Secondly I didn't think the ending was that wonderful, and I'm talking literally the last minute. This is my opinion though and I can see why people might thought that it actually made for a fitting end, it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I didn't love this film and given its seriously high rating on this website, and what I'd heard from other people I was a tiny bit let down. I can see why people do think its so fantastic and that it might be a classic for some, it just wasn't for me. Nevertheless, I think I've probably just been nit picking a great deal, I'm sorry if I've taken away something from this film because it is amazing. I've not seen anything like it before and you should definitely go and see it!