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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind (2004) Focus , 1 hr. 48 mins.
Starring:
Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark
Ruffalo
Directed by:
Michel Gondry |
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The concept of love is a tricky
abstract feeling to define. Plus, when you apply a trippy and twisty
whimsical field trip down memory lane then the challenge of securing that
romantic twitch makes for a captivating and kooky diversion. In Michel
Gondry’s festive identity-crisis romancer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind, this affecting and frolicking fable takes audiences on an enjoyable
mind-bending ride that’s uniquely exhilarating. This is a film that enjoys
the comforts of conveying a durable love story that’s surrealistic in its
compelling and cockeyed wonderment. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
is a potent mixture of drama and comedy that is undeniably savvy in its
observational existential content.
The sapient nature behind Gondry’s intricate and carousing narrative is
none other than the resilient input of innovative and experimental writer
Charlie Kaufman who dutifully provides a genuine and topsy-turvy breath of
fresh air to this engrossing material. Kaufman, whose handprint can be
found on delicious and demented gems such as the highly revered Being John
Malkovich and Adaptation, spins yet another ambitious story that looks to
heighten the scope of his joyously erratic storytelling tendencies. In
typical Kaufman-esque form, the script is edgy and carries the right
amount of cynicism to balance its offbeat spunkiness. Gondry’s carefree
direction and the playful way in which scriber Kaufman manipulates the
zany string of wistful moments that make up this inspired romantic comedy
pretty much sums up the colorful mayhem in Sunshine. Invariably, Gondry’s
breezy film serves up a tenacious perplexity that’s simply infectious.
Jim Carrey is the spastic movie star that can command most of the finicky
filmgoers’ undivided attention. His uncanny ability to hop between riotous
and goofy characterizations (i.e. the Ace Ventura flicks, Batman Forever,
Liar, Liar) and riveting off-kilter portrayals (i.e. The Cable Guy, The
Truman Show, Man on the Moon) is absolutely astonishing for the comic
actor. In Sunshine, the resourceful Carrey is on target once again in a
fine and risky performance. Carrey plays Joel Barish, a neurotic New
Yorker trying to deal with the recent nasty break-up of his relationship
with an impulsive and unpredictable sass named Clementine (Kate Winslet).
Anyway, Joel is shocked and later intrigued when he learns that his
ex-headcase honeybun Clementine took the initiative to hook up with the
Lacuna Company in an effort to “erase” all traces of bad memories
connected to their deteriorating kissy-poo union. This facility apparently
had the passable reputation for wiping the acrimonious thoughts out of
one’s wounded cranium. In any event, one can see just how emotionally
damaged Clementine was to actually go ahead with this procedure to
literally put her former ties with Joel out of her dazed mind.
Feeling the need to retaliate and bothered by Clementine’s gesture to
completely throw his fragile existence on the backburner, Joel rips a page
from her book and decides to have his noggin washed and waxed while
deleting all memories of his connections with Clementine. Thus, Joel puts
himself in the role of guinea pig in the hands of this clinic’s resident
scientist Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson, In The Bedroom). Naturally, the
proceedings take a turn for the worse. First, it turns out that Joel is
entertaining some serious doubts about wanting to go through the process
of letting Clementine completely vanish from his mindset. Secondly, the
inept staffing of technicians (played by the likes of Mark Ruffalo and
Elijah Wood) at Lacuna don’t exactly inspire confidence when they royally
mess things up during their professional assistance. Invariably, poor Joel
is left wandering in the sluggish state of a sleepy wasteland where he
valiantly struggles to maintain his consciousness and yearns to grasp
again the memories of his tortured Clementine.
There’s no real surprise here in terms of the trademark oddities in the
way Kaufman typically dictates the wacky and wayward liveliness of his
feverishly flawed and flamboyant protagonists. Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind is a jagged joyride that presents certain promises that may
not necessarily be filled immediately because the ambiguity of lost love
trying to be found once again has no concrete boundaries that are set in
stone. The theory that exists is that love is one big haze that travels
endlessly through a maze. And that’s what Sunshine purports to be—a maze
where one man’s ambivalent journey has its tip toe effect through the
crevices of the subconscious and reality where the fine line isn’t always
definably drawn.
Essentially, Carrey’s Joel Barish is the sacrificial on-screen road map
for the audience’s progression to accept our romantic destinies as one
huge gamble. Cleverly, it seems that the participants trying to experiment
with an incomplete and tattered soul such as Joel Barish can afford to
tinker with his malfunctioning heart because in hindsight these broken
people don’t want to (or cannot) fix themselves. Whether it’s the careless
lab technicians that bungle the operation right down to the gently dizzy
receptionist (Kirsten Dunst) they all have issues with untested or
uninvolved love lives that need the adequate nurturing.
Both this film’s director Gondry and its imaginative winning writer
Kaufman have reunited after collaborating on the defectively overwrought
2000 dud Human Nature. One can seriously say that the dreck that came from
Kaufman’s pithy pen pertaining to the aforementioned Nature was a grave
mishap that didn’t pan out well for most moviegoers or critics alike.
However, the pair more than redeem themselves here in Sunshine. This
particular brilliant comedy has a throbbing heart that beats jubilantly.
The film is definitely poetic and meditative in its quest to reveal the
up-and-down sentiments of love. Besides, who knows what other insightful
and nutty entrapments that Kaufman’s steady filmmaking partner-in-crime
Spike Jonze would have contributed to the frothy Sunshine project? Still,
the Gondry-Kaufman magic works for this bracing and boisterous exposition.
The performances sparkle with energetic rawness that’s truthful and
profound. Carrey, without question, showcases what amounts to be his best
acting bit since his celebrated turn in the stunning The Truman Show. As
the probed Joel Barish, Carrey is game to present to us a reflective
lackey whose passionate plea is to find that elusive affection and bottle
it up in the most unconventional way possible. Carrey’s alter ego sports
vulnerability that’s restrained yet revealing for a schlub looking to
replace the absent parts to his shattered whole. Winslet is daringly
effective as the passive-aggressive Clementine and she skillfully matches
the upbeat spirit and subtle intensity with Carrey’s big screen plagued
persona. Whether she can be regarded as spiteful or as the poster girl for
sympathetic detachment, Winslet matches wits step-by-step with Carrey’s
poignant and plucky stint as fallen individuals looking to stand up on
their willing but shaky feet once again. And the supporting cast are solid
as they lend a hand to the bizarre universe created by one of Hollywood’s
most dynamic and off-putting screenwriters in the person of the audacious
Charlie Kaufman.
Cunning and perceptively puzzling, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
is an early candidate worthy of being mentioned for Oscar consideration.
This is one shell shock instance of adventuresome cinema that’s
intelligent and taut in its sardonic, seductive juices. In the context of
a vivid and stimulating dream, this Sunshine does indeed shed its rays as
a twisted treat for the masses to behold. |
