Kaufman's brilliant. 'Nuff said.

Rating: 9/10 (19 March 2004)

Being John Malkovich was visionary; disturbing; hilarious; charming. Adaptation was weird; satisfying; challenging.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind equals those previous outings with a fascinating journey through a man's memories. Jim Carrey will be described as "understated" a million times before this film finishes its run in theatres, and deservedly so. The rubber-limbed heir apparent to Jerry Lewis turns in a finely muted performance here.
Kate Winslet, instead, is the wacky off-the-shelf number -- she made *me* fall in and out of love with her during the course of this film. I've enjoyed her in past films but I was absolutely spellbound by her Clementine in Spotless.
Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Jay Ryan and Tom Wilkinson work for the company that erases things or people from memories -- they're solid but unspectacular as supporting cast. This film is all about Kaufman's wonderful script and Carrey & Winslet's riveting performances.
I'm a cynic -- I don't come out of the theatre raving very often. This is one of those times.