Joel Barish goes through a procedure to remove memories of his girlfriend Clementine from his mind, only to realize the value of what they had as each memory is erased.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD

Screenwriters rarely develop a distinctive voice that can be recognized from movie to movie, but the ornate imagination of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) has made him a unique and much-needed cinematic presence. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a guy decides to have the memories of his ex-girlfriend erased after she's had him erased from her own memory--but midway through the procedure, he changes his mind and struggles to hang on to their experiences together. In other hands, the premise of memory-erasing would become a trashy science-fiction thriller; Kaufman, along with director Michel Gondry, spins this idea into a funny, sad, structurally complex, and simply enthralling love story that juggles morality, identity, and heartbreak with confident skill. The entire cast--Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, and more--give superb performances, carefully pitched so that cleverness never trumps feeling. A great movie. --Bret Fetzer

What if you could forget a person so completely that you would never know that you had met them, spent time with them, even loved them?

The ability to do exactly that is what lies at the heart of this drama, which takes us on a journey through Joel's (Carrey) mind as his memories are selectively erased. Kaufman's great visuals give physical form to Joel's memories and their systematic destruction: Houses disintegrate, faces become blurred and entire streets crumble as, neuron by neuron, the procedure progresses.

We learn that the impetus for this voluntary brain damage is Joel's roller-coaster romance, and bitter breakup, with the impulsive Clementine (Winslet). As in 'Adaptation' Kaufman approaches love with a realism that is often deeply cynical but ultimately betrays a loner's desire to be loved. Everyman Joel and the untameable Clementine make a good pair, and most of us will be able to identify with their tumultuous relationship.

An excellent, highly imaginative exploration of how the little things in life, good or bad, make us who we are. DVD includes commentary, interviews with Kaufman and Carrey as well as some other extras. Highly recommended DVD!

Passionate...Any hopeless romantic will fall in love with this movie and awaken the senses that love does exist when you find the perfect but completely wrong person for you.

This is a great collector's edition of a great movie. I bought it as a gift for my husband, and he absolutely loved it. Very nice shiny packaging also.

I didn't see this movie when it came out in theatres because I thought it would be a cheesy chick-flick movie. I judge the movie based on the poster, now I feel dissapointed that I didn't watch it on the big screen.

This movie will bring back forgotten memories if you were ever in a (serious) relationship. No need to spoil the movie, just watch it.

This 2 disc set shows the deleted scenes which makes the movie a lot more interesting.

Of the two other Charlie Kaufman scripts, both are better than this one. Those being "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation." The frenetic style is wearing on the viewer here. You admire the film-making of the memory erasure sequences, but you don't watch it wide-eyed, or particularly involved. I didn't fully understand some of the concept until I watched the extra "Making of," never a good sign for a movie if it needs explanation. The "plot" runs thin too soon. The best moments are when the assistants run amok and get high during the night of Jim Carrey's big mind erase. It's mildly funny. And Kaufman's trademark voice-over by the main character mouthing his racing thoughts is its usual fun self. Worth watching, but don't expect to be hugely entertained.