Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind wasn't bad, but it didn’t half go on. Two quirky individuals meet and fall for one another, only to find out that they had already had a relationship, but all memories they shared have been erased. That’s the basic concept you have to accept, no matter how improbable it is that it would work (a note to all acquaintances asking for them never to mention the memory again isn’t really enough to make sure that the far-reaching connections made don’t cause endless complications), it’s not something you should dwell on if you’re going to enjoy the film, so it’s best to just accept.
The trouble is, once this idea is established, the film gets very drawn-out and tedious. While the characters are interesting (especially the peripheral ones) and the acting is excellent (Jim Carrey’s best performance that I’ve seen, and Elijah Wood really did well within the constraints of the part), Kaufman decides to focus the story on what Joel experiences as his memories are being erased. Charlie Kaufman is one of the more daring and inventive screenwriters around, and I enjoyed Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, but the flow of the story doesn’t work as well here. There’s just too much being bizarre for its own sake, too much hammering home the same points, and while the chemistry between Joel and temperamental, impulsive Clementine is interesting, it gets lost amidst repetitive symbolism hung on a flimsy plot. A fairly good film, but quite tiresome, and not one I would watch again.
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