Jim Carrey The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (2004)
Words cannot describe how much I loathe Jim Carrey's comedies. Are they even comedies or do we simply use that word to be polite? I really can't tell.
However, back when I was an avid reader of Roger Ebert's movie reviews, I would watch nearly any movie that earned his 4-star rating. Which explains why I watched The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind despite it having Jim Carrey in a starring role. (You can read Ebert's review here). Like many actors, Carrey truly knows how to turn out an excellent performance though he also must appear in the kinds of movies that (in my opinion) pay the bills. Ace Ventura may pay the bills but it's not going to win any Oscars. Thus, much to my astonishment, I discovered Jim Carrey can indeed act.
An ingenious Oscar-winning screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, Carrey and Kate Winslett are former lovers Joel and Clementine who erase memories of each other after a bad break-up. The employees of the mysterious company that are tasked with doing Joel's memory wipe realize during the procedure that he has changed his mind. We are then transported into his memories and watch the panicked technicians try to erase the memories he now fights to keep. The movie unfolds outside of any chronological order as it takes place inside Joel's mind and not any representation of objective reality.
I am always interested in movies that have originality, whether it's the story, the characters, the structure, the cinematography, or anything else. For those who seek creative, outside-the-box movies, check this out if you haven't already seen it. Despite it starring Jim Carrey, I did not regret it.
