Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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“God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in winter.”J.M. Barrie

The word chosen for the quote above is “roses” not lily’s or carnations, and this is to remind us that life’s attractions always come with a prickly price, even as mere memories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind explores this by taking the viewer through the agonizing pain of love, to hate, and then back to love again.

The quality of this film is not what the players do as much as what they don’t do. Jim Carrey, as Joel, doesn’t use talking-butt gags, not once. Kate Winslet, as Clementine, doesn’t do wide-eyed gorgeous. And Charlie Kaufman, the writer, doesn’t pen past the heart and soul of the story but fills this strange thesis with careful moments that bring it full circle, something his past films have not accomplished. Kaufman is something of an aberration, being just about the only writer in Hollywood whose name can brand a film in the general public’s mind. With past hits such as Human Nature, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation Kaufman has garnered a name for complex, thought provoking fare but often a bit twisted in the telling. This tale is torqued right from the start when, after fifteen minutes into the film, the credits roll and suddenly you realize the ride has just taken its first turn.

Joel and Clementine are two lonely people searching for love. From the start it seems that they will find what they seek in each other, but as this is a Kaufman story, that is really the end of the film and the warped journey to come, nearly costs them the love they desire. Soon, after meeting, these two discover what everyone discovers about romantic involvement ... it’s hard work and there are bad moments which we would all wish away, but these are the moments that define the solidarity of a couples true intent and they will never simply go away. Clementine is a total ditz, whose hair color changes with her moods. In one particular moment of ditzyness she decides that she has had enough of Joel and has the memory of him erased. This is only a little bit of science fiction but it’s done well enough to stand up within the story. Joel learns of this erasure and in a period of love-lorn choler finds Dr. Howard Merzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) of Lacuana, Inc. and asks for the same, the removal of the memories of Clementine. What neither one understands is that love is not a memory, love cannot be erased and before the end of the story they find each other again as if they had never met. At this point it seems that they might just make it as a totally new couple or a couple caught in a loop but they soon discover what they each have done and that has it’s own consequences. This too is resolved in a tenuous moment of clarity and understanding between the two searchers.

If you are a Kaufman fan this movie is a must, it is simply his best to date. If you’re not a Kaufman fan this film is still worth seeing. It has moments that seem a bit too long, a little overdone but the story is one that provokes thought past the exit doors. The other bit here, worth notice, is the performance by Jim Carrey. Like Nicholson in About Schmidt and Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, Carrey expands his range past the goofiness of Dumb and Dumber and the melodramatic nonsense of The Majestic and rolls out a truly meaty performance.