Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Film

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2005)

After eighty years of cinema, the film industry is running out of original ideas. There seem to be more and more remakes of old films, or recycled ideas, everyday. I find this loss of originality to be quite depressing. That's why I'm overjoyed to find that there is still some creativity in Hollywood today. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a perfect example.
Jim Carrey stars as Joel, a man who one day discovers that his lover, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has had him erased from her memory after their relationship has gone over the edge. In retaliation Joel decides to have his memory erased as well, but it's only through doing so that he realizes all the good times they had together.
Charlie Kaufman is one of Hollywood's most important writers, and certainly one of its best living screenwriters. Before bringing us "Eternal Sunshine", he's written such greats as "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation". I feel happy knowing that there is still such a thing as a clever script nowadays.
One of the things that leads this movie is the cast. If ever I had any doubts about Jim Carrey's acting talents, they were cleared up after this movie. Mr. Carrey is excellent, and thanks to his performance I really sympathized with his character. Kate Winslet is also terrific. These two are both equally deserving of an Academy Award nomination. Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood and Thomas Jay Ryan play in supporting roles.
At the director's helm is Michel Gondry, and he knows how to steer this ship. Jon Brion's emotional score really adds to the film.
I am proud to declare "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" as my pick for the best film of 2004. This is one of the greatest films of recent years, and in my opinion one of the very best films made. "Eternal Sunshine" truly is a spotless film.