No. 7 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story.

Rated: R (Restricted) for language, drug use and sexual content

Director: Michael Gondry, Story: Pierre Bismuth, Charlie Kaufman; Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman

Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson

Movie Introduction: After a painful breakup, impulsive Clementine (Winslet) undergoes a procedure to erase all memories of her former boyfriend Joel (Carrey). When Joel discovers what Clementine has done, he undergoes the same procedure. As his memories are being erased, Joel re-experiences the good memories, along with the bad.  This proves to be a strong tether to Clementine, and Joel changes his mind. He starts to fight the procedure, but it may be too late.   

Defining Moment: "I don't wanna do this... I wanna call it off!"

Joel, deeply hurt by Clementine's impulsive action to erase her memories of him, decides to likewise have her erased. Their relationship, like most lovers, was tumultuous at times. As he undergoes the brain-altering procedure, we enter his mind and there witness the procedure. It is deleting his memories in a random manner - the good, the bad, the sweet, the horrible. It's an emotional flood, traumatic and overwhelming. However, in the midst of the cerebral onslaught, Joel realizes that he's made a mistake. Regardless of how bad things got, he wants to keep his memories of Clementine. He begins the fight of his life to stop the extraction process. He finds her in isolates spots, but loses her. It's terrifying to him that he may lose it all. (Watch the full scene HERE on YouTube)

Something subtle you might have missed:  cassette tapes

Who would have thought! However, the retro cassette tape gets some key moments in this film. Tapes were created by the Lacuna office as a record of a person's desire to erase someone from memory. In the beginning of the film Joel throws a cassette out of the window of his car. Many viewers have wondered which tape this was. Watch the film and make your guess. 

Memorable Quotes:

"Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage, but on a par with a night of heavy drinking. Nothing you'll miss." - Dr. Howard

"Joel, I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to make them alive, but I'm just a f***ed up girl who is looking for my own peace of mind.” - Clementine

Dad's Review:

One yardstick measure of my personal film evaluation is this simple characteristic: "Is it hard to describe to people?". I challenge anyone to describe this film in two easy sentences. There is very little here that follows a common formula, or adheres to a movie convention. Eternal Sunshine is odd, wonderfully odd. It has been categorized as a "romantic science fiction drama", a mouthful.

You are asked, right off the bat, to "just believe" in the procedure where doctors can erase your memory. Here, it's basically outpatient surgery. That is a biggie for viewers to believe. I was easily able to do that because the concept is so darn creative.

You are also asked to ignore all Jim Carrey's previous works, mostly comedies, where his outrageous antics dominate those films.  This Carrey is the polar opposite: quiet, unsure, wounded, manic. I asked myself where he summoned such acting ability. Then I realized that most funny people, most comics, are themselves wounded. They use comedy as a way to hide their insecurities.

Carey's performance is so sad and amazing.

Next, I have to discuss Miss Winslet. She has become my favorite actress. Every film she makes (all risky choices, with the exception of Titanic) is better simply because she stars in it. I have not seen this since the iconic James Stewart. They both can carry a film. Here, as Clementine, she is a force of contradiction, passion, anger and blunt common sense. I just can't say enough about her innate acting instincts. She takes a role, then completely inhabits it. Every nuance is perfect. God, I love her.

Another note is the excellent cast of supporting actors: Tom Wikinson as Dr. Howard Mierzwiak, Kirsten Dunst as Mary, Mark Ruffalo as Stan and Elijah Wood as Patrick. Their wonderful performances add to the richness of this movie.

This amazing film is the product of superb acting talents, an amazing non-linear Oscar-winning screenplay, and a superb director in Michael Gondry.

Filming is never easy, and this film's production phase was especially complex. When the plot is so difficult to follow and explain, it is nearly impossible to get everyone involved to share the same vision, most of which may only exist, as a full concept, in the screenwriter or director's head. Like the plot of the film itself, filming was disjointed, scenes were hard to understand and put into an ever-evolving context. It is a shared consensus by the cast and crew that it was "a long and difficult shoot".  

The final result is this quirky, odd, hypnotic drama that somehow manages to be the most intimate romance film I have ever seen. Perhaps that is because, like real life, romance is never "like the movies". It's messy, disjointed. Many times love fails, sometimes for no good reason.

But every once in a while, with all its imperfections, love works, a film finds its success... just like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Onto No. 8... The, well, People Looking for Something