I
expected more from "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind." Some great
actors are in it, the plot sounds compelling in several levels, and it was written
by one of Hollywood's best.
It
has a wonderful menagerie of intriguing elements: psychological drama, philosophical
and ethic layers, complex love stories, greed, honesty, manipulation, and questions
of destiny, reality and time. What doesn't it work? What happened?
The
idea of this film was bigger than those who put it together.
The
Idea
Adventurous girl (Clementine) meets shy boy (Joel). They fall into
a sweeping romance, as the Yin finds the Yang.
Somehow,
for reasons only vaguely alluded to, it all breaks down. Clementine does something
stupid and Joel suspects the worst.
They
break up, and Clementine decides to go to a special service to have her memory
of him erased. He finds out after the fact, and decides he should do the same.
In
the process of having this done, he subconsciously remembers each event chronologically
reversed. It isn't a tape played backwards. He just remembers what happened a
month early, then the day before, until he gets to that first memory. However,
as he goes through the messy breakup, and back into the good times, he realizes
he loves her.
Joel
struggles the entire time asleep, as he has a sense of what is happening and desperately
wants to save the relationship. Clementine too, although in Joel's mind, wants
the relationship and understands the issue of his memory being erased. She does
not see the same urgency, frustrating Joel.
The
ultimate conflict becomes saving the relationship. Can Joel find a solution, will
he be able to in time even though various hurdles are before him, and what would
the relationship look like when he wakes up?
I
had a difficult time following which reality, and what time and place things were
happening. During the time inside Joel's memory, I became lost, and did not know
what I was seeing. We see Joel as a child, as a man-child, at different events
of his relationship with Clementine, and events would be different from the one
I though was reality. On paper, this whole process is interesting, but, on screen,
I had a hard time keeping up.
Secondary
plot lines are loose, at best, and could be removed without affecting the strength
of the movie. Their presence, in fact, adds to the confusion, as I did not understand
why certain characters were acting the way they did.
For
example, Stan, the technician overseeing Joel's memory erasure brings along his
assistant Patrick, and they both pillage Joel's home for snacks and drinks while
Joel is there asleep mid-procedure. Mary, Stan's girlfriend and receptionist at
the clinic, comes by she and Stand smoke some pot. A lack of class and ethics
I understand, but how this happens is the confusing part. Dr. Howard Mierzwiak,
the brilliant, though staid, doctor who invented the procedure tolerates it all
when he comes by to help out. He must have smelled the pot, and otherwise saw
the pandemonium that had ensued. He himself seems largely professional, and yet
never comments on their actions.
The
movie has good points.
Kate
Winslet demonstrates an amazing American accent. I forgot she was British. Her
skills here were underused. The producers could have saved money with a more stereotypical
actress like Drew Barrymore. Barrymore has played similar characters before.
Jim
Carrey shows us he has more chops than just as an incredible comedic physical
actor. His dramatic personality here was key to my interest in the movie.
Elijah
Wood (he played Patrick), most known for his part as Frodo Baggins in LOTR, keeps
stretching himself. His part was inconsequential to the plot, and a secondary
plot about his efforts to woo Clementine was not seriously developed.
"Eternal
Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" is a well-reviewed movie, and is worth seeing.
The question of memories and how we should manage a broken heart is good to ponder,
and the movie will help you get there. Its unorthodox approach might not bog down
other viewers as is did for me, so give it a shot. It isn't nearly as forgettable
as Clementine hoped Joel would be.
Anthony
Trendl
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