brilliant, funny, daring and romantic

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2005)

The way you wear your hat -- The way you sip your tea -- The memory of all that -- No, no they can't take that away from me...
Actually, they can. Did you ever hear that classic Gershwin tune and wonder just who "they" are, and why They'd want to take those romantic memories away? Is this just a lover's awkwardly turned phrase, a sign of paranoia - or is someone seriously in with the wrong crowd?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind lays out just such a scenario, and doesn't let up finding ways to tickle you with it until you're exhausted. "They" are professionals from Lacuna Inc. working to erase Joel Barish's memories of his ex, Clementine (Kate Winslet). Joel (Jim Carrey) hasn't given the procedure enough thought, and now each recall of a treasured moment with her is helping Them with their mind map and brain eraser.
The way your smile just beams -- The way you sing off key -- The way you haunt my dreams -- No, no they can't take that away...
This may be the most wonderfully, boldly imaginative movie I've ever seen. It keeps mostly to Joel's point of view, pushing movie and story form where they've never quite gone before. Devices like flashbacks serve their usual purposes as well as showing the effects of being drugged, trying to remember, to forget, or even to think something you've never thought before. There are chases and races inside Joel's brain, and places to hide there. The filmmakers take dozens of storytelling and special effects risks that pay off delightfully. Discovering them is half the fun, so I won't say more about the movie. My date and I laughed, cried, and sat back slack jawed the entire time - often all at once. (I mean my wife - how'd I forget?!)
The way you hold your knife -- The way we danced till three -- The way you change my life -- No, no ...!
Jim Carrey gives a subdued performance that won't annoy even his most ardent critics. Kate Winslet is fantastic - early in the film, she gives him a long, skeptical look, while holding her body at such a silly angle for so long that you finally have to laugh. And somehow you immediately understand what it's like to love this woman.
This great film deserves all the acclaim director-writer Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's utterly original script have received, and much more.