Good sci-fi romance but flawed

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2004)

It has been a few years since I've added a user comment, but after seeing this film and reading some of the reactions before mine, I can't keep quiet. As of now, the Db has 783 comments in all for ETOSM, and from the 30 or 40 I've read, it would seem this film is destined to be the next all time classic: think Godfather, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, whatever. There are a few commentators who lean otherwise, and generally they seem to simply hate the film. I can't agree with either side, though.
On the one hand, I liked the film on several levels. Underneath everything, it was an above-average average-Joe sentimental romance that keeps one hooked to the end. Overlying everything, it had technical appeal that almost erases any flaws. And throughout, Jim Carrey's acting nudges the film up another level, not just because Carrey is intriguingly out of character but because he actually makes a stereotypically boring nerd character more believable.
On the other hand, there are flaws. I'm not impressed with the newest science fiction premises, the loop around plot or the various altered realities of the script, not because they're confusing but because in the end they are not much more than an emperor's proverbial new clothes. Ultimately they do not hide the writing flaws of an overly contrived wrap-it up conclusion, they do not excuse the weak and shallowly scripted subplots and they do not make the film more than a sentimental sci-fi romance. To the extent that love is profound and prevailing, this film gives us something to chew on, but not much more than, say, An Affair to Remember.
In between the good and the bad, there is nothing really ugly about this film, although Elijah Wood's character, part of one of those weak and shallows, comes close. Kate Winslet's performance is respectable, although beyond the blue hair her character is not developed as much as it might have been. And the direction, with all the technical coattails is good, even if I'm not ready to burn the director's name to memory.
I'll watch this film again on a rented DVD but I don't want to run out and buy it. Three stars.