A different type of love story, Jim Carrey's third serious movie.

Rating: Null/10 (14 October 2004)

Jim Carrey's first two serious movies were 'The Truman Show' and 'The Majestic'. Now, he has made a third, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', the title apparently taken from a quote from Alexander Pope, spoken by the Kirsten Dunst character. I like this movie and also liked 'Being John Malkovich'. Both of them require the viewer to accept that we are able to visualize what is going on inside someone's mind. If you can't accept that premise, then the movie is not for you. Carrey is good as Joel Barish, but Kate Winslet is even better as his kookie American romantic interest, Clementine Kruczynski. Tom Wilkinson plays Dr. Howard Mierzwiak who has developed the medical technique featured in the movie. But before you watch this movie, take out your map and locate Montauk, which is the most eastern community on Long Island, NY.
SPOILERS FOLLOW, quit reading if you have not yet seen the movie. Seriously!!
The first scene in the movie is also the last scene. We see Joel mysteriously running from his normal work-bound platform to take the train to Montauk, and he isn't certain why. He walks the beach, talks to himself, is shy, but sees Clementine there. They ride the same train back, she is gregarious and initiates conversation. This is their second time to 'discover' each other, but neither realizes that. In between the movie's beginning and end, we see them getting closer together, only to have issues appear, and she impulsively takes a new treatment where the doctor and his staff 'map' the brain activity of what a person wants to forget, then erases all those specific memories overnight with a contraption on the patient's head. She forgets Joel. Hurt, Joel does the same, but during his procedure has second thoughts, realizes he doesn't really want to forget her, unable to wake up he tries to hide his memories of her in places not mapped by the doctor. We view all this going on in his mind. As a last resort he whispers 'Montauk', and both of them end up there, re-discover each other, and we see them trying again. Point being, if you were attracted to each other before, even though your memories are gone, you will be attracted again.