Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | | Cast : | Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson | | Director : | Michel Gondry | | Studio : | Universal Studios Ho | | Format : | Widescreen, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound | | Released Date : | March 19, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | February 08, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | You must remember this | Content
 | We all know how the saying goes: "It is better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all." Just because something doesn't work out doesn't mean that it was a waste of time. It you're very lucky, you can learn from your mistakes. Everybody needs their memories, both good and bad-especially bad, to learn from them and not repeat them.
That is the basic point of 'Eternal Sunshine.' As the film opens, Joel (played to perfection by Jim Carrey) impulsivly skips work to go to Montauk. There he meets Clementine (the lovely and amazing Kate Winslet), a woman so different from him she might just be perfect for him. They have an instant bond and everything seems fine for these perfect strangers.
However, as the film continues, we find out, in a bout of dramatic irony, that Joel and Clem aren't strangers-they are past lovers who have no memory of each other. At the end of their crumbling relationship, Clem impulsivly had her memory of Joel ereased. Heartbroken and angry, Joel went to have the same procedure, founded by Howard Meirzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) and performed by technicians including Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood, retiring gracefully from 'Lord of the Rings') and Mary (Kirsten Dunst). Most of the film takes place in Joel's head as he is having the procedure. He relives/remembers his memories with Clem, working backwards from the crumbling end. However, as time goes by (or backwards), he realizes that there were some really beautiful memories of them, and that they were in love. So he tries to "hide" her in memories where she doesn't belong, much to the frustration of the technicians doing the procedure. The film also cuts to the three technicians doing the procedure at Joel's house while he is asleep. We find out that Patrick is now dating Clem by using Joel's lines, and that Mary and Stan are lovers but she is in love with Howard, but she has no idea of her own past. In fact, it is Mary, not Joel or Clem, who makes a 180 and realizes the power of memory and tries to undo her, and others', mistakes.
I have no idea where to begin. This film was by far the best film of 2004. French music video director Michel Gondry uses his visual knowledge and wisdom to create a beautiful, wonderful and crazy atmosphere, using little to no special affects, just camera moves and choreography, to make wonders. Also, the freedom that he gives to his actors to improvise enhances all of their performances. If you aren't already familiar with composer Jon Brion's work (Magnolia, I Heart Huckabee's), I can assure you that you will now-his dreamy atmospheric music totally enhances the scenes in every way. Charlie Kaufman, the brilliant and manic mind behind the Oscar nominated films 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Adaptation' finally won his first Oscar for his crazy and beautiful script.
And then there's the acting. I am in total awe of Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. You have never seen them in roles like these before. At first I was knocked out of my chair, waiting for them to suddenly become "themselves", but they never got out of character ONCE. Actually, their roles are switched-it is Jim Carrey playing the introverted and shy character and Kate Winslet playing the spontaneous and free character. On the outside they look like water and oil, but underneath the skin they are the same blue ruins.
As tough as the male competition was for Best Actor, I still argue and am shocked that Jim Carrey didn't get nominated for his role. He was totally inside Joel's head the entire time and you truly believed Jim's performance. Actually, it wasn't even a performance-he WAS Joel. And Kate Winslet proves that she is one of the greatest living actresses today. She keeps Clem exciting and witty, but also allowing us to see Clem's vulnerable side. As good as Hilary Swank was in Million Dollar Baby, I just really wanted to see Kate take home her first Oscar, in the most exciting performance of 2004. Jim and Kate have the best chemistry in a long draught of awful "romances" over the years-different as they are, they complete each other and you really believe why they are both in love and love each other. Together they were, well, spotless.
I can say without being over-entheusiastic that 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is easily one of the best films ever made. It is wildly romantic, undeniably original, incredibly poignant, and surprisingly real. Mark my words: You will never forget 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.' |
| Rating | | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | Ambitious, but falls short | Content
| Joel and Clementine meet on a train after Joel decides on an impulse to skip work that day. They're complete opposites - Joel quiet and melancholy, Clem a wild woman - but they fall for each other pretty fast. Then one day Joel visits her at work and not only does she seem not to remember who he is, but she is involved with someone else whom Joel can't quite identify. He later discovers that she has undergone a process to have him erased from her memory, and he decides to do the same. But partway through he decides he doesn't want to lose his memories of her after all, so he attempts to bury them off the "map" where the erasure technicians can't find them.
A good portion of the film is spent following the two through Joel's memories, deeper and deeper as they try to escape deletion. These surreal sequences go on too long and cause the film to drag at times (the childhood memories are particularly grating.) But the movie's biggest flaw is a lack of substance. Despite getting a direct look at some of Joel's defining moments, we never get a sense of him as a person. Clementine is a complete enigma, and I couldn't figure out what the two of them saw in each other at all. In the end, all we're left with is "boring" Joel and "wacky" Clementine. There is a slight plot complication involving the hospital staff towards the end, but there isn't much to the story as a whole. Overall, it's an interesting concept but one that mildly fails as a movie.
I didn't like the film enough to do much exploring of the special features, but I did see the rather lame music video (composed entirely of film clips with singing mouths superimposed over the characters) and a cheap-looking commercial for Lacuna, the company in the film. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2005 | | Summary | A new way to see Jim Carrey | Content
| Joel (Jim Carrey, in a very different and enjoyable turn) finds out that his girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet, in a very good performance in a hard role) has had him erased from her memory. He then decides also to have her erased from his memory. As his memory is being erased, he relives the moments and realizes that he truly does love Clementine, and wants to hold on to as much of her that there still is. It's an interesting story and a completely different way to see Jim Carrey.
There's also this really great book out now that provides an interesting look into Jim's home life growing up and how these experiences lead to Jim's obsession with success and ultimate victory in becoming one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. If you're a Jim Carrey fan, I recommend checking the book out. You'll have fun with it and it's called "THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE QUICK BOOK." |
| Rating | | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | WIERD | Content
| Not that good, but worth seeing once. Smoke a big fatty,
and you might enjoy some of it. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 25, 2005 | | Summary | good | Content
| movie is great, i was waiting for dvd too long because of some shipment mistake but it was worth waiting for. |
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