Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
exquisite mind game, not for casual moviegoers, 28 Nov 2007
Yeah, "Eternal Sunshine" is a mess, but what a sweet and beautiful mess it is. It might be quite a difficult watch for some, but ultimately rewarding if you invest enough time and patience to sit through. Somewhat reminiscent of an Andrei Tarkovsky, Wachowski Bros, David Lynch and Christopher Nolan film, our protagonist Joel bounces between twisting realities under a highly non-linear narrative structure.
As I always say, fragmented storytelling is not a cinch. Rather, it is a high-wire act. On the page, it might read well; but on the screen, if you don't put everything on proper places, you will run the risk of losing the viewer pretty quickly. Thankfully, that doesn't happen in "Eternal Sunshine" due to the magical touch of two talented mind-gamers: writer Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry, both like messing with expectations as well as human psyche. Take Kaufman's "Being John Malkovich", "Human Nature" and "Adaptation", you'll get what I mean.
The premise of the film is based on a breakthrough technique (Lacuna) to expunge unpleasant memories off people's brains. Being engaged in a flawed relationship destined to fail at the very beginning, Joel wakes up one day and finds Clem left him. He realizes that she had him erased from her memories. Love-torn, confused and enraged, he decides to do the very same thing rather than living with the pang of losing and missing her. Then when he trapped in sleep, we take up a pleasing albeit mind-bending journey into the depths of Joel's subconscious. We see their relationship within a time loop: in reverse-order flashbacks starting with the most painful memories of the breakup and working forward to the earlier, sweeter ones. But, as Joel relives his moments with Clem, he realizes that the good times he had with her are so precious to him. So he tries to put her into other parts of his memory so that she will never to totally forgotten.
Overall, "Eternal Sunshine" is an offbeat experience and definitely a triumph of romantic sci/fi subgenre. Highly recommended.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astoundingly original, 31 Aug 2005
I had heard great things about this movie and when I finally saw it I was completely blown away. It's brilliantly inventive, with the idea of Joel (Jim Carrey) trying to erase the memory of his girlfriend (Kate Winslet) but his mind tries to stop him. There's much more to it than that but there's no point in spoiling it. This is one you can't really describe but you have to see it.Carrey gives the performance of his career, and is far away from his more 'zany' roles like in Ace Ventura or Liar Liar. He is truly believable as Joel and Kate Winslet was also a revelation, with excellent chemistry between them. The support cast is also great, with Tom Wilkinson and Kirsten Dunst (I love her) particularly standing out. It's definitely the best non-action film I've seen for a long time. I say 'non-action' because Eternal Sunshine doesn't really slot into a particular genre, with elements of comedy, drama, romance, sci-fi, fantasy all thrown in for good measure. But if there was a genre called 'Fantastic' then this would fit right in it!
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvellous, 27 Dec 2005
Fantastic screenplay, with twists here and there in the plot. A highly imaginative film all round, which is also a very sincere study of relationships! Very natural and unpretentious acting.
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