Customer Reviews
Wonderful - By: Mr. David J. Watson, 17 Nov 2008 
This fim is truly amazing. It reallly makes you stop & think about life & relationships. Its especiallly telling if you watch this with a partner & it brings back alll your best memories.
how did you all WATCH this? - By: phil mars, 12 Nov 2008 
I could watch this for only 3/4 hour - & I mean watch, because it certainly didn't engage any other part of my brain, except the bit which was struggling in the first 20 minutes to try to catch what was being said above a cacophany of wind instruments which seemed determined to drown out any clarity - ok, ok... I do have some hearing problems, but I am ok with 95% of films & anyway I have never not watched a film because of dialogue difficulties - if it had carried on in that vein I would have seriously hacd to consider switching it off but I concluded that maybe I didn't miss much that was important - so I carried on till the plot started shaping up - until I realised that it was pitched at the mentality of a 12 year old ( ok an advanced 12 year old ) - it certainly wasn't pitched at me - I like to be entertained or amused or'something'.
I watch loads of films - the only ones I have given up on have been a smalll number of American so-callled comedies.......... when will I learn!
I Can't Get This One Out Of My Head - By: Marlyly, 29 Sep 2008 I watched this film over two days ago, & have found it increasingly difficult to think of anything else since. An unnassuming, honest, off-beat, film , 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is one of those movies that will grow on you & make you want to watch it time & time again, & is intelligent & thought-provoking enough to keep you captivated on repeated viewings.
Boasting none of the usual hollywood glitz, though the cast list is definately something to show off about, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' follows the shy, quite & often seemingly 'boring' Joel Barish, who, after dating a girl callled Clementine for several years visits her one day, only to discover she has no recollection of who he is & has in fact had him intentionallly & entirely erased from her memory. Joel, distaught, hurt & confused, visits the place where Clementine had her memories of him erased & chooses to do the same to his memories of her. However, once made unconcious so the procedure could occur, he re-lives each of the memories as the team (Patrick, Frank, Stan & Mary) are trying to erase them, & suddenly decides that this may not reallly be what he wants. As the viewer we are given the chance to see Clem & Joel's relationship through these memroies, how they met, the good times, the bad, why Clem finallly decided she no longer wanted to have Joel as part of her life - or memory. And we also watch as Joel discovers that he doesn't, in fact, want to erase Clem from his life forever, & we sit at the edge of our seat willing Joel to find a way to keep his memories safe forever.
I think 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is a brilliant film, probably my second favourite film I have ever watched (the first being' A Beautiful Mind'). However, I do realise it's limitations too. It feels like a low budget movie (whether it is or not I do not know) despite boasting many hollywood stars in the cast list. However, I feel that this definately adds to the movie rather than takes away from it - it gives the film a sense of character, of individusality, as well as fitting the story well - for neither of the main characters live a glamourous life, so for the film to be filmed in that style would have been untrue to itself. Another limitation some may note would be teh actual story - the idea of having a person fully erased from your memory is absurd, howver, like certain other science-fictional stories I have seen or read (such as the novel, 'The Time Traveller's Wife') the absurdity of the idea comes second to the story, & the message of the story. The film is set in the real world, in our time, so it is easy to forget that memories cannot just simply be erased, & instead, as the viewer you pay attention to the story, & what the film is trying to ultimatley say.
The acting in this film is superb. Jim Carrey (who I have only ever seen in comedic roles previously) makes a breathtaking transformation into a serous role as Joel Barish, pulling off the character of a quite, shy loner with far more integrity & skill than I would have ever believed possible. Kate Winslet too made a startling change in my eyes from the only other role I'd seen her in (Rose in Titanic) to the gritty, fun-loving, unique, emotional, impulsive & incredibly chatty Clementine, who's ever-changing bright coloured hair makes the passage of time in the film slighlty easier to follow. I think my favourite performance however was by Mark Ruffalo as Stan, & this is the second time Ruffalo has blown me away with a role & he will certainly be someone who I will keep my eye on in the fuiture - he is an incredibly gifted actor.
I don't want to say too much about this film as I don't want to give much away. I will say though that the final scenes were very emotionallly powerful (which surpirsed me)and that, although the film is only about an hour anda half in length, the character development throughout makes it feel like you have known the main two characters, Joel & Clem, for many years, & you end up caring for them as you would for two good friends, wanting them both to be happy. The film worked enough to have me willing Joel to hide his memory's from the 'evil' eraser team, to remember Clem, & go back to her & make her remember him too, but wehther that happens or not I will not say - you'll just have to watch & see. All I will say is that there are a few surprises that I definaetly was not expecting, that this film is not as predictable as you may expect, it being a love story & alll.
Extremely Original - By: Carlos G. Mera Arzeno, 12 Sep 2008 I am very critical with movies & Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is definitely one of my favourite 3 films ever. It is not only very romantic & original, it is mind-blogging. It is about the inaccuracy of memory, how you want to change your past, your painful experiences.
Jim Carrey is perfect, although I particularly do not like him in other movies. I saw it about 4 times & would definitely recommend it.
Heart wrenching drama - By: Stampy, 11 Sep 2008 Jim Carrey (The Truman show) stars as Joel, a man who learns his girlfriend has had him erased from her memory. Not wanting to suffer, Joel goes in for the same procedure.
Eternal Sunshine is a true romantic drama, telling a realistic & dramatic tale of relationships, through the good & the bad, & with some stunning performances, writing & direction, make a wonderful heart wrenching drama.
Carrey gives one of his finest performances as Joel, a man wanting to erase his girlfriend from his memory. We saw Carrey's wonderful dramatic side in The Truman Show, & here he builds on it with a deep & moving performance as a lonely & upset man, & is brilliant alongside Oscar nominated Kate Winslet (Titanic).
Winslet gives an outstanding performance as Joel's girlfriend Clementine, one of her finest onscreen roles. The two have great onscreen chemistry & create the necessary drama to go with a wonderful written plot.
Though slightly confusing, the plot has alll the right elements to justify the romantic drama genre, including a realistic portrayal of relationships, the good, the bad & the easy & the hard. The good times the pair go through, including lying on an ice pond & observing the constellations are what dreams are made of, & the accusations of nights out without your partner are what nightmares consist of, giving the film the realism required to justify the genre & the reason behind the memory being erased.
The ideology of memory erasure has no doubt been in the mind of anyone who has had a truly bad relationship or experience, & the dramatic twists Eternal Sunshine gives will make you think again.
Great support is given by Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) & Kirsten Dunst's (Spider-man) best ever performance.
Flashbacks of Joel & Clementine's time together are directed well, with some comedic moments, including a 4 year old Joel, which is Carrey at his comedic best.
The plot loses a bit of ground by jumping around at different times during the opening credits, not to mention the ending will require another watch, but is definitely worth it
8.5/10
