It depends on what you expect...

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2016)

I wish I had been able to watch this movie without expectations. I was aware that it was highly rated and many people praised it as a surreal romance that would be dramatic, but ultimately heartwarming.
In contrast, I can appreciate this movie the most if I approach it as a psychological drama, which isn't concerned with warm, fuzzy feelings. Mostly because I did not share or experience the warm or romantic tone that some reviewers seem to get from this film. To me, the majority of the movie, as well as the characters' personalities, seemed rather uncomfortable, tense and borderline disturbing at times. (Spoilers ahead)
1) First of all, I am obviously well aware of the typical shy, nice guy meets quirky, adventurous girl/opposites attract-story, where the characters are both flawed and troubled to some(!) degree, but together they'll complete each other. However, the main characters in this movie do not seem to fit those typical roles. Each of them seems a few degrees too far off the edge psychologically. Joel is not just shy and kind, he displays a significant level of neurosis and he knows it. Clementine is not just lovably quirky, but rather emotionally unbalanced, which she admits. That, actually, makes both of these characters actually very realistic. But it is exactly this realistic aspect which undermines any potential romantic warmth for the most part. Watching their interactions unfold, I felt constantly reminded of the fact that each of them was struggling and clearly unable to form healthy relationships at this point. Any psychologist would tell them that they have to sort themselves out first. This is emphasized by the fact that we know(!) that their first relationship has failed and we also learn that it has failed for exactly the kind of reasons that you would expect: Opposites attract at first, because people who are not at ease with themselves seek others to complete them...which eventually fails when the differences become too noticeable. Again, a very realistic scenario...but not a very romantic one. 2) The whole memory-erasing plot doesn't exactly create a comfortable atmosphere either, especially since the whole business is portrayed as somewhat dubious throughout. The concept itself is portrayed as morally controversial since it shows over and over again that erasing one's mind doesn't really solve problems, all the physicians involved seem like they have personal issues themselves, they act irresponsibly on the job and even clearly abuse their power over their patients in a creepy fashion. So when I watched the middle part of the movie, I was hardly thinking about Joel and Clem's romance anymore. Instead, I just felt generally anxious about whether or not the doctors would simply ruin Joel's mind. And when Joel began to almost lose it, while struggling to stop the process and maybe even intervene in Patrick's games with Clem, I was certainly getting more of a psychological thriller-vibe than a romantic vibe. 3) It also didn't help that it wasn't really clear to me where the plot was going during the main act. Joel seems to lose his mind and he seems to struggle against the erasing procedure, but why exactly and to what end? Is he struggling because he is in danger, since the doctors are doing a bad job? Is he struggling to save Clem from Patrick? Is it because of his feelings for Clem? Problem is, we have already seen how his relationship with Clem will turn out and his internal interactions with her do not feel significant enough to justify any "I just realized I still love her!" realizations. So the movie just moves around for a while, we see some childhood memories, some flashbacks, but in the end his mind is erased...and then they meet again & discover the back story & decide that they still want to proceed...which is not as ridiculous as some reviewers have suggested. It seems understandable that they can only make decisions based on how they feel in that moment and since they are newly in love (again), it doesn't really affect their decision to know how it will turn out. They might even decide consciously that they would like to experience that chapter of their lives again, because it is lovely while it lasts. After all, the value of a relationship is not necessarily dependent on it lasting forever. However, all this makes it difficult for me to experience this as a romantic feel-good story about two troubled characters finding love, like some people seem to perceive this movie. Instead, I witnessed a movie full of tense, significantly (not lovably) troubled characters, emotionally unhealthy relationships, psychologically disturbing mind- meddling...and at the end two characters decide to relive a romance which we know will probably be over in a few months (again), because they still haven't really changed who they are. So while the tension of the movie eases towards the end, it still ends in a soothing melancholy at best. Not really a warm, fuzzy romantic ending, if that is what the viewer might expect. So, after adjusting my expectations, I come to the conclusion that this is certainly a very original movie in terms of concepts and structure, which might be best experienced as a psychological drama, at the end of which the world has changed very little, without any profound insights or personal developments. Life will literally repeat itself for now. A sobering feeling that leaves a strange emptiness and uncertainty rather than any uplifting romantic notions.