AlanBarber.Org
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
What's there to say... hmm... It's a great movie! Yup that should sum it all up pretty well. No seriously folks. It's not showing at every theater so you might have to look around to find it but it will be worth it.The basic summary of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" goes something like this. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) have a rather rocky relationship. After a rather nasty fight Joel goes to apologize at Clementine's job, she works at a book store, but she acts if she has no idea who he is. He learns from friends that she had him erased from her memories at this place called Lacuna. He goes to them and decides to have them erase her from his memories as well. After the procedure is started he begins to realize that he still lovers her and doesn't want to loose the memories.
The cool thing is 90 percent of the movie is played in reverse chronological order. It does that because we follow the procedure that erases memories from most recent to earliest. As a result you really don't get the whole picture until the end which I think is great. So many movies basically dump out everything on the floor within the first 20-30 minutes. You know everything and you just spend the rest of the movie being entertained by the pretty special effects till the hero(s) win.
Ok, sure anyone with a half a brain will know how this movie will end, I won't say it just to not spoil it, but the fact that they don't describe anything upfront and make you watch to see how the relationship unfolded is a wonderful change.
On the technical front the movie was impressive. It's no Lord of The Rings but there are plenty of little details there. Most of the movie takes place inside Joel's head so the little effects of things dissapering as the memories are erased is nicely done. Most people probably won't pay enough attention to notice them all and it's a shame. For example in one scene Joel is talking to Clementine in the bookstore. As they talk books on the shelves slowly lose their titles and change to blank white. Each time the camera would shift more and more would turn blank. Then when all were blank the entire room slowly darkened and this showed very nicely the idea of the memory disappearing.
I went with my girlfriend to see it. You know what folks, Weekend dating is overrated. I think catching a movie on a Wednesday night is way better. Why you may ask? Simply there's nobody at the theater! I think there were maybe 10 people total at the theater to see the movie. You get to feel like it's just the two of you there and that's much more romantic in my opinion. No being stuck next to some sweatty fat guy that managed to eat his entire jumbo popcorn before the previews are over, no moron that talks non-stop to his friends, no stupid parents bringing little children to an adult movie and then having the kids whine for two hours. It's pure bliss people!
Of course the downfall is being the middle of the week you can't stay out really late since you both have work or school in the morning. Then again being able to see each other in the middle of the weak is enough to make it worth it. For my girl and I we only see each other on the weekend and Tuesdays normally. Any extra time we get we have to take advantage of.
So enough of my ramblings already. Everyone go see the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Then get your friends to go too. It's another one of those rare intelligent movies so don't pass it up. We have to let Hollywood know that it's not enough to just spend millions on special effects. We need good original stories that inspire and provoke the mind too!
on 04/22/2004 at 02:22 PM