Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Reviewed by Audrey Hamelers

/ 5

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind proves once again that Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) is one of the most insane, and therefore brilliant, writer/directors of our time. Eternal Sunshine is his greatest work so far. Bittersweet, ironic, intelligent, romantic; it combines normal Kaufman insanity with traditonal themes to create an off-season Oscar contender.

Directed by former Kaufman collaborator (Human Nature) and music video director Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the story of Joel (Jim Carrey), who wakes up one morning with a blank journal, and, on a whim, calls in sick to work and takes a train out to Montauk. There he meets equally confused free-spirit, blue-haired Clementine (Kate Winslet), and the two strike up a friendship on the bus ride home.

In the audience, we can already see that something is drawing the two of them together. But what? The movie then rewinds, to a bereft Joel discovering that Clementine, after the failure of their relationship, has erased all memories of him from her mind by a firm run by Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). In retaliation, Joel decides to do the same. On the night before his trip to Montauk, Mierzwiak’s assistants Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood, in a completely different dimension from his Frodo character) and Mary (Kirsten Dunst) zap away Joel’s memories of Clementine, one by one.

All of the actors shine. Jim Carrey finally finds the dramatic performance he searched for in The Truman Show and The Magestic; he BECOMES Joel Barrish and makes us love his introverted creativity. Kate Winslet, normally a superb actress, is vulernable and real as Clementine. Kirsten Dunst brings a human element to her betrayed secretary, while Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson both bring dark, melancholy characters to life. By far the most surprising is Elijah Wood, who plays creepy and sad Patrick, trying to steal someone else’s life.

Though the subplots involving the supporting characters are indeed intriguing, the real story takes place in Joel’s mind as he realizes that he does not want his memories to fade and disappear, and runs from thought to thought with Clementine’s memory. At its heart, Eternal Sunshine is a story of human emotion and relationships and how, without learning from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. It will blow your mind, but it will also break your heart and mend it again.