As you can probably tell, today’s double feature has a running theme of “medicine going too far.”
Cast, Crew, and Other Info
Jim Carrey as Joel Barish
Kate Winslet as Clementine Kruczynski
Kirsten Dunst as Mary
Elijah Wood as Patrick
Written by Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth. (Only Kaufman worked on the script; the others just worked on the story.)
Directed by Michael Gondry
Complete information is available from the IMDB.
Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca
Past movie reviews can be found here.
Premise
Two people decide the best way to end a relationship is to erase their
memories of each other.
High Point
The first private conversation between the technicians. Very
amusing.
Low Point
Jim Carrey acting the way Jim Carrey acts for the last 40 minutes.
The Scores
This is an original and interesting concept, particularly
since they decided to make the movie a comedy. I give it 5 out of 6.
The effects are minimal, but effective. Most of them take
place within a person’s memories, so they don’t need to look quite
right to suit the film. I give it 6 out of 6.
The story was nicely written, adding completely new depths to
the introduction as the film goes on. I give it 5 out of 6.
The acting was very good in the first hour. When his
character first tries to “wake up,” we see the return of the Jim
Carrey that usually keeps me away from his movies. Unfortunately,
that’s the Jim Carrey that sticks around for most of the rest of the
picture. I give it 4 out of 6.
The emotional response was good. It’s very amusing, and
still thought provoking. I give it 5 out of 6.
The production was excellent, with a distinct art house
style. Carrey needed a leash, but I have no other complaints. I give
it 5 out of 6.
Overall, in spite of Carrey, it’s a great movie, and well
worth seeing. I give it 5 out of 6.
In total, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind receives 35
out of 42.
Cool film
I was actually just thinking about this film a couple days ago. The premise is quite interesting and perhaps in certain cases somewhat inviting. There is one person in particular I wish I could erase heh..
Great quote:
How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d;
from the poem “Eloisa to Abelard” by Alexander Pope
Agree Nearly Completely
I just watched this movie for the first time last week on one of the movie channels (I’m a TIVOer so I hardly pay attention to channels) and thought it was great. I avoided watching it earlier because, well, Jim Carrey kind of bugs me, and he bugged me (like he did fiz) for most of the last section of the movie, too.
One of the things I really liked about the film is that it was telling a personal story instead of a societal one, and it stayed firmly on that track. While I like movies that explore the broader ramifications of science gone “crazy” (as Gattaca did), it’s nice (and rare) when a science fiction movie can avoid that.
Eternal Sunshine exemplifies what I’ve believed about science fiction for a long time: The best science fiction isn’t about the science, it’s about people. It’s especially nice when, as in this case, it’s about people who seem like “regular folks.”
Stealth sci-fi
I wasn’t aware that this movie was sci-fi until I was watching it. A friend had rented it, we were expecting some ordinary drama. Turns out it was pretty good low-key science fiction, dealing on a personnal level with the social implications of a technology that doesn’t exist, yet, but could exist in a world that would be exactly like our own aside from that one detail.
Quite a good movie!
My only complaint was that I had the “Recall, recAall, recaaalllll…” jingle from “Total Recall” stuck in my head for days afterwards ;-)