Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

<<

Screening Suggestions

>>

To close off this exploration into some of Carrey's best dramatic performances, I went with one of my favorite love stories, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. It's an interesting and imaginative look at how our minds work while in the midst of a bad break-up. That includes things like lashing out about something, but not meaning it, and of course, the willingness to erase someone from your memory altogether at the time.

As the film opens, we meet the shy and introverted Joel Barish (Carrey), who impulsively boards a train to Montauk one chilly Valentine's Day. By chance, she meets the whimsical and free-spirited Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), and they form a relationship just before the opening credits introduce us to the tale of tragedy ahead.

After a rough break-up, Joel comes home to a surprise - some card reading that Clementine has erased him from her memory. As a result, Joel seeks out Dr. Howard Mierzwaik (Tom Wilkinson), inventor of this technology, to undergo the same process. However, as his memories of Clementine begin to disappear, he starts to realize that fond memories are something that come out of every relationship, and might not be something to throw away as though it was yesterday's trash.

Through a secondary story arc, we are introduced to a few of Mierzwaik's employess who "oversee" the whole process. Stan (Mark Ruffalo) is the expert, so to speak, until he brings in his coworker, Mary (Kirsten Dunst), leading to a bit of unprofessionalism. But helping Stan is the creepy Patrick (Elijah Wood) whose pretty much playing Frodo the pervert here. As the film rolls on, we learn that he intends to take over Joel's identity as Clementine's love interest, using her memories with Joel as a reference point.

I will be the first to admit that there's not a whole lot of straightforwardness to this one. The execution is an artsy one, and you might find yourself a bit confused as to what exactly is going on. But I will say that you kinda have to sit through that confusion to get your head together as the film comes together, nearing the end. I'd say it's a bit worse than something like 'Inception' for that, so if the whole "in the mind" thing isn't for you, you might stick with 'Truman Show' or 'Man on the Moon' as your best Carrey Drama.

With that said though, I tend to lean towards this type of imaginative material, and I'm always fascinated by dream-associated material. Truth be told, I confuse much more easily with things like political thrillers and, you know, real life stuff. So I may be a bit bias in my opinion about how good this is. But if you are in the midst of a rough breakup, or having some kind of problem, wanting to forget about someone, I recommend trying this out.

While it's confusing for a while, just pay attention. It ends in such a way that allows the viewer to embrace the chaos of a situation as opposed to keeping things straight and narrow, which can still lead to problems. It all ends with one word, and to me, it's one of the most powerfully emotional words to end something on. Some may not agree, but the same word is used in a certain super famous story-based game, and it was strong there, too. But check it out for yourself, and see if you agree or disagree.

---