Sunny and spotless!

Rating: 9/10 (9 November 2004)

Try to wrap your brain around this one. Suppose you could have certain memories wiped from your brain completely? Would you even notice? In theory, the movie says, you wouldn't; in theory, you'd get on with your life as if nothing had ever happened. Ah, but that's theory, and we all happen to live in Theory's sister village of Reality. And most of the time, Reality gets her way.
Joel (Jim Carrey) is a dull sort of guy. He's just broken up with a longtime live-in love. He's kind of mopey, kind of aimless, the sort to whom perhaps three-quarters of single thirtysomething males can relate. In short, he's a bit of a loser. He can't even look women in the eye, and in one insightful bit of narration wonders why he falls in love with every woman he meets. But then he meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), who's really like no other woman Joel's ever seen. Heck, she's not like many women, period. Clementine clearly dances to her own drummer.
But Joel and Clementine have their share of problems. He's mousy and reserved, she's wild and alcoholic. Sure, opposites attract - they also get into screaming matches. Or not, in Joel's case. At any rate, after Joel visits Clementine at work and she doesn't recognize him (!), he stumbles onto an stunning fact: Clementine has willingly had all memories of Joel erased from her mind.
Whoa, hold me. This alone is enough to give me an aneurysm. After mulling it over, Joel decides to do the same. Hey, she did it first, so it's OK - right? So he undergoes the procedure. But did it work completely? If so, why does he recognize Clementine sometimes, others not? Why does he relive some of the memories? Is this live, or is this Memorex?
The problem is that while Joel is undergoing the process, he decides he doesn't want to forget Clementine - not now, not ever - so he begins to hide her away in parts of his mind where the good doctor and his crew cannot reach. That's all well and good, but now those memories are altered as well, and Joel must outrace his memory erasers in order to preserve his sanity and his love for Clementine.
Kudos all around for the cast. Jim Carrey can indeed act, in case some of you weren't sure. He was fantastic in The Truman Show, and he's fantastic here. You see none of the typical Carrey gawking and mugging, and you see all the tenderness and fears of a scared young man. Winslet is pretty good as Clementine, vacillating between cute vixen to unstable alkie pretty seamlessly. A good supporting cast (Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood) helps tremendously.
Eternal Sunshine was cowritten by one Charlie Kaufman, who's famed for writing unique films, such as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Sure, there are flaws here and there, but the writing is so crisp and sincere and flows so easily that it's very tough to condemn any aspect of it.
If I have any real complaint about the movie, it's that it was perhaps a little too long. At one hour 48 minutes, it's not a marathon, but some parts near the end did seem to drag a big. This is perhaps owing to a rather pertinent subplot involving Dunst's and Wilkinson's characters, but it's a diversion well met.