Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2004, directed by Michel Gondry and screenplay by Charlie Kaufman

I probably ought to include the writer for all of these reviews, but the screenplay drive's movie. And fortunately for us, the rest of the elements of the movie are also excellent.

The premise of this movie rests on the idea of plastic surgery for the mind -- undesirable memories can be erased. In this particular case, a young woman, Clementine (Kate Winslet), erases all memories of her boyfriend, effectively ending their relationship. Joel (Jim Carrey) retaliates by erasing all memories of Clementine, but has second thoughts during the process.

Both of the lead actors are thoroughly enjoyable, in both their appealling and ugly moments. I am a big fan of Tom Wilkinson, and he is, as always, believable, this time playing the doctor who runs the memory-removal office (doctor's office/computer geek shoestring operation). Kirston Dunst does a particularly heart-wrenching job in her role as receptionist, and the rest of the cast are also excellent.

The visuals are great fun, particularly as Joel is trying to hide his memories of Clementine in other, unrelated, memories.

My only tiny complaint is that the circular structure of the movie (which is a form I enjoy) was made slightly too obvious.

Eternal Sunshine is interesting to watch, but I particularly enjoyed the questions raised about memory, relationships, and fate. And best of all, no answers.