Dismal

Rating: 4/10 (24 August 2004)

Would someone please erase all memories of Michel Gondry's existence from Charlie Kaufman's mind? This is the second time that Gondry ruins one of Kaufman's scripts. Let there not be a third time.
"The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" has an extremely interesting premise and a cast full of talented actors. The right director could easily have made this into a film that rivals "Being John Malcovich" or "Adaptation". Gondry, on the other hand, has made it into a pile redundant, self-indulgent nonsense.
The bulk of the film consists of endless and absolutely pointless visual trickery that only confuses, bores and alienates the viewer. About halfway through the film, I was trying to decide whether to walk out or to wait for something to start actually happening. I'm not sorry I stuck it out, because things do wrap up in the end and it all ends in a relatively positive note, but all in all that doesn't make up for the fact that the entire previous hour of the film has been wasted.
I also hate the way this movie looks -- drab, dark and unnecessarily ugly. I understand that these people lead uninteresting and pedestrian lives, OK? There's no need to shove it down my throat.
BTW, this film has no actual nudity, but being directed by a Frenchman, it does have some T&A -- possibly to keep male viewers from falling asleep. Kate Winslett takes care of the "T" department while Kirsten Dunst is on the "A" case.