Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The term "original" is a sometimes over used and more often incorrectly used when describing films. More often than not what we think is original is actually an homage to past films or a rip off depending on the filmmakers motives. And there is no genre in modern films in which this more true than romantic comedies. There is a formula that exists in creating a romantic comedy that consists of such things as casting big stars with chemistry and finding ways to drag things out for 90 minutes until you finally allow your central characters to come together. Sometimes this done in an entertaining fashion, sometimes it's mind-blowing awfulness, but rarely is it original.
An exception to that rule would be Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. A romantic comedy (or dramedy if you prefer) that matches a boring and introverted Jim Carrey as Joel Barrish with a lively extroverted Kate Winslet as Clementine. The two have been together for two years when a fight leads to Clementine seeking to have an elective surgery done that will remove Joel from her memory. When Joel discovers what Clementine has done his anger leads to him seeking out the same procedure to remove her from his memory. However, once the procedure begins, Joel's memory begins to realize that perhaps this is a mistake and he fights to save his memories of Clementine. It's as crazy as romantic comedies can get.
Of course, this is not why I believe the movie is original. While the concept of a lover wanting to remove a past lover from their memory is unique, I don't consider it to be all that original to have a romantic comedy centered around a seemingly improbable scenario. After all, we movies like Joe Versus the Volcano which provides ridiculous scenarios to bring a couple together.
What makes Eternal Sunshine original is it's approach to the relationship between Joel and Clementine. We see them initially after there memories have been erased as two strangers who are drawn to each other. Joel is a man who is much like myself. He can easily identify a woman he would like to have a conversation with and is scared to death when she actually tries talking to him. The two seem to have a connection although neither of them know why. They spend time together and agree to go on a date together.
Then we cut to Joel crying in his car and discovering why Clementine doesn't recognize him. Angry, he wants to know if the procedure is a hoax and when he believes it is legitimate he decides he wants it too. He goes home and is asleep in bed when 2 technicians come over to preform the procedure. As they begin we see Joel and Clementine break up, we see them struggle with goals regarding the direction of their relationship and dealing with feeling like members of the dining dead. In short, we see everything that would make you say that perhaps these two people should not be together.
However, as the night progresses Joel starts to lose memories of the good times and we see his memory begin to fight for it's own preservation. Joel teams with his memory version of Clementine to try and hide out in memories that Clementine otherwise does not belong in. The two struggle as the lead technician and the procedures inventor fight to find the memories and erase them for good. The final memories Joel loses retrace how Joel and Clementine came to meet and we see them as two people who are interested in each other despite the clear differences in personality.
What I love about this movie is that it is a celebration of not only the good parts of relationships but also the parts of human nature that create difficulties with in relationships. It's one of the great mysteries in life that a couple who has been together for "X" number of years can still struggle to communicate and we see Joel and Clementine is painful situations that may mirror situations we have survived. It is not romantic and yet I argue that it is greater than any cookie cutter definition of romance we see out there. It is as real and genuine a romantic comedy as I have ever seen.
The film also soars on the strengths of it's performances and the creative team behind the film. Jim Carrey gives one of the 3 performances in his career for which he was robbed of even getting nominated for an Academy Award for and Kate Winslet who was nominated for an Oscar is able to fill Clementine with an intoxicating spirit and life that makes it impossible for you to take your eyes off of her when she is one screen. The supporting cast is equally terrific as Frodo plays one of the creepiest characters in film, Mark Ruffalo plays the lead tech, Kirsten Dunst plays his girlfriend who is more in love with the procedure's inventor Tom Wilkinson who has been one of the more consistently great actors of the past ten years. Add to that the visionary direction of Michel Gondry and the unparalleled dialogue provided by Charlie Kaufman's script and the film becomes a representation of the very best work that Hollywood is capable of producing.
The film approaches it's end with Joel and Clementine receiving tapes of their interviews for explaining why they wanted to other one erased from their memory. It creates a great juxtaposition as two people who think they have just met and want to start dating are faced with the realities of all the difficult things a relationship together will ultimately bring. Having been through my fair share of difficult times in my own life, this film serves as a reminder to me that no matter how bad things seem in your relationship things are still better with that person than with out them. Movies love showing us how people come together, Eternal Sunshine shows us why we stay together even when things appear to be at their worst.