Ignorance is bliss, but is it for the best? Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind poses this and many other questions in a way that can't help but get under your skin. It's the kind of film that will touch a chord with anyone who has ever loved and lost, had their heart broken, regretted anything or wanted to simply start all over again.
This film is the latest bit of genius from the mad mind of Charlie Kaufman.
And, in typical Kaufman fashion this is not a typical movie. A non-linear plot moves forwards and backwards with such aplomb and facility that you can't help but admire the fact that Kaufman never seems to lose the audience or sight of the simple, melancholy love story at its core.
Jim Carrey plays Joel Barish, one of Kaufman's requiste lovable losers in a plot that resembles more a cinematically grand and quirky version of The Twilight Zone than anything else. And just like one of Rod Serling's best episodes, you know by the end of it your head won't quite be the same.
Kate Winslet plays Joel's girlfriend, Clementine. She's also playing against type. As are they both. Winslet's Clementine is the riot grrrl in this relationship. Whereas Carrey is forced to tone down and "act" and we're all the better for it (especially Carrey).
Joel and Clementine meet in Montauck NY., neither really recognizing the other but a glimmer of "something" is certainly discernable. We then flash to another time (initially not sure if it's forward or back). The two have grown tired and stale in their relationship. "The dining dead" as Joel refers to couples like them. Clementine decides to have a procedure where she will have Joel erased from her memory. Joel accidentally finds out and can't understand what he did to deserve that kind of treatment. So he decides to do the same. But, at the last minute (virtually in his brain) he realizes he wants to keep all his memories of Clem, the good, the bad and the ugly.
What notches up the "creepy factor" is another typical Twilight Zone device, the extraordinary made ordinary. The medical "corporation" Lacuna Inc. (lacuna means "a missing piece") is in a dingy old office with fake wood paneling; not some clean, sleek, white lab of tomorrow. Tom Wilkinson plays the doctor offering the ability to remove any painful event or events from one's mind; or, as he puts it, "a safe, effective techinque for the focused erasure of troubling memories."
"Will I get brain damage?" Joel asks somewhat nervously.
"Well, technically Joel, the procedure is brain damage," the doctor replies. "But it's nothing serious. About on par with a night of heavy drinking," he assures him.
At the risk of splitting an infinitive or damaging one's brain or liver; this, most certainly is a movie well worth drinking heavily from. --Steve Steinbach |
