Check Out the Trailer

This is the best film I’ve seen all year thus far. This film shows cinema at its most inventive, smart and beautiful. A friend of mine told me that if there were ever a “beautiful film” this would be it. I couldn’t agree more.

Joel Barish (Jim Carrey, MAN ON THE MOON) is a shy man who has been dating outgoing, flashy and impulsive Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet, IRIS). After a big fight, Joel discovers that Clementine has gone to Lacuna Inc. to have a procedure done that erases the memories of Joel from her mind. Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson, IN THE BEDROOM) revolutionized the processes of ridding bad memories and his office consists of receptionist Mary (Kirsten Dunst, SPIDER-MAN), technician Stan (Mark Ruffalo, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME) and slacker assistant Patrick (Elijah Wood, LORD OF THE RINGS). So Joel decides to rid himself of his memories of Clementine. As Joel goes through the process, we get a better understanding of both Joel and Clementine as well as their relationship.

The detail of the characters and the concept of erasing memories are fascinating. The film was written by Hollywood’s current screenwriting genius Charlie Kaufman, who also wrote BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND and HUMAN NATURE, which was directed by Michel Gondry, the director of ETERNAL SUNSHINE. This is a great romance that understands why people come together and why they work and don’t work. It honestly understands how relationships tend to play out – they start out nice, but if they end they end with exaggerated spite.

Even good films can seem common because we’ve seen so many other films kind of like them, but this film surprises at every turn. Its imagination is endless. What’s so brilliant about the film is that its “sci-fi gimmick” is not just a gimmick; it has everything to do with the topic of the story and how people feel when a relationship looks like its ending and how they feel in hindsight.

The performances by Carrey and Winslet are perfect. I was amazed with Winslet and feel she deserves yet another Oscar nomination for the first contemporary role I’ve seen her in. Gondry improves on his visual inventiveness from HUMAN NATURE with a loony and dreamlike rendition of Joel’s memories. The style perfectly captures the emotions that the memories hold. Making the film even more complex is the supporting Lacuna staff. The film deals intelligently and humorously with the ramifications of what problems could arise if there were a place that could erase your memories. Each year produces about 20 or so great films – four-star material. But if we’re lucky we get five truly special films. This is one of those films.