Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Movie, 2004, R

Premise - After a woman undergoes a procedure to erase the memory of her ex-boyfriend, the lovesick ex-boyfriend decides that he must do the same to get over her. When the man gets put under the procedure, watch his memories of their relationship erase in reverse chronological order, becoming increasingly distorted and confused.

Review - I'm so happy I finally got around to watching this film. The title alone had caught my attention on Netflix, but it wasn't until Netflix announced that they were taking the film OFF of their platform that I watched it on an unexpectedly free morning, just so I wouldn't miss out. But that was the only intrigue I had - the title and the fact that the movie thumbnail pictured a pensive Jim Carrey.

The film starts out, as expected, with a pensive Jim Carrey. Then each addition to the cast was a warm, familiar delight. Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Tony Hale... so many faces that I love. Kate Winslet as the female lead in particular was breathtaking. For someone whose favorite film is Titanic, I haven't seen a lot of Kate Winslet. (I did see her in Contagion, but that film forever scarred me so I try not to think about it.) Like many young girls, I mostly focused on my love for Leonardo DiCaprio. Her acting in this film was some of the best that I have seen, and it's no wonder that she was nominated for Best Actress. In fact, this film was critically acclaimed in many ways. I read on Wikipedia of all places that it's considered one of the best films of this century to date. My favorite television show, Chuck, had an episode (Chuck vs. the Phase Three) that was essentially the plot of this film, in many ways, and I'm glad to see the source material that more than likely inspired it.

It's a wildly creative piece of cinema. I am always in favor of weird, out-of-the-box filmmaking. We play with chronology, reality vs. unreality, and essentially get to jump back and forth out of someone's psyche/dream world. It's also funny in an almost dystopian manner. The machine itself - the idea that one can have memories erased in a targeted manner - is already dystopian. But then the added fact that the brain of this main is so casually dealt with by the doctors/scientists is insane. The men doing the procedure (Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood) along with their secretary girlfriend (Kirsten Dunst), are irresponsible beyond measure, taking drugs, having sex, and dancing around this guy as he lies unconscious having his brain fried.

It's romantic, funny, existential... would definitely recommend to all my friends and watch again. (93/100)


Quote - "Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders."

What to watch for - I mentioned this already, but Kate Winslet has a DEFINING performance in this film! I remember her saying that in Titanic her character was technically supposed to have an American accent but it was pretty rough. Her American accent in this film was perfect. And her impulsive character with ever-changing hair colors reminded me of Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

If you liked this film, I'd recommend (500) Days of Summer! I know it's difficult to say they are similar genres, but they both push the boundaries of filmmaking by playing with chronology and just having really bizarrely edited moments. They also both are a critique of the "manic pixie dream girl" (a term which I hate, and for which I love films like this) that show how there can be these great, impulsive, wild girls that do in fact exist, and yet they are imperfect human beings that may not make for the best relationships, but make for wonderful female character explorations. Because I love these crazy female characters as much as I love all female characters - it just depends on what you do with them.

Directed by Michel Gondry
Distributed by Focus Features