Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[Krieg]

I'm not at all convinced that he's "pigeonholed" into silly guy roles.

Five years ago I would agree that he was definitely a victim of "typecasting", however I think now he has enough leverage to start doing the type of rolls he really wants to. He reminds me a lot of Robin Williams in that regard.

It's just another in the endless ream of film out of Hollywood I have no interest in seeing.

Thank you for sharing.

.../snip/...he cheats on his fiance (and girlfriend of two years) to be with her and never tries to really explain why.../snip/...

Actually he never really cheats on his original girlfriend. He meets Clementine at the beach & is immediately smitten...but he chickens out when faced with the moment of no return.

The next time they see each other she tell him to choose between her and his fiancee, and he obviously chooses her.

 

[Chun-tzu]

I really liked it. I'd rank it in the same class as Truman Show; definitely worth watching if you like complex movies, but not quite one of my favorites. It really delivers on a great premise: "what if you could erase ex-BFs/GFs from your memory?" They should have played up that angle in the promos (I had very little idea what it would be about from the commercials), although it would still never be popular with those who prefer "popcorn movies."

 

[drnuncheon]

They should have played up that angle in the promos (I had very little idea what it would be about from the commercials)

Huh...what promos did they have in your area? One of the ones I saw was a 'commercial' for Lacuna (which obviously told what the movie was about) and the other was pretty clear about it as well.

J

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

It was a very good film -- a romantic version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in a way -- if you disregarded the simple fact that the two lead characters were both fundamentally messed up people. She's an utter drunk with no obvious cause, solution, or apologies while he cheats on his fiance (and girlfriend of two years) to be with her and never tries to really explain why. Having those degree of character flaws kind of suppressed my sympathy for the characters: They may try again (and again and again) but they're wired for mutually assured destruction. And that realization -- that things wouldn't get much better for these characters regardless of how the film ended -- really nixed the long-term awe effect for me.

::Kaze

Wow. You came away from that a LOT more negatively than I did. I was firmly of the opinion that they had a shot.

And the very brief snapshot of her life that we got didn't really leave much room for explanations or solutions of her problems that weren't part of their relationship.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Huh...what promos did they have in your area? One of the ones I saw was a 'commercial' for Lacuna (which obviously told what the movie was about) and the other was pretty clear about it as well.

J

Whoops. Actually, I meant the commercials, not the trailers, since I hadn't seen any trailers for the movie. I'm guessing the studio kept the movie subject a bit vague in the commercials (which I don't remember well, because they didn't tell me anything) because they just want people to go see Jim Carrey, and a lot more people will go see a mindless comedy than a movie like this one.

 

[Pielorinho]

I loved this movie; along with Kill Bill, and for different reasons, it was one of my two favorite movies of the year. The visuals were done is such a wonderful, creative way; the acting was superb; and the strong story featured morally ambiguous characters, my favorite kind.

Life's not clean and neat, and that's how I like my movies. Except for Kill Bill.

Daniel

 

[Banshee16]

Wow. You came away from that a LOT more negatively than I did. I was firmly of the opinion that they had a shot.

And the very brief snapshot of her life that we got didn't really leave much room for explanations or solutions of her problems that weren't part of their relationship.

In one of the features on the disk, I think they talk about an ending that was written where Clementine was going to get the treatment, or was upset about the treatment. She was older, like in her 40s or 50's, and the two of them were still getting together and breaking up, but because they kept wiping their memories, they were forgetting what happened, and thus were doomed to repeat their mistakes continuously.

Banshee

 

[Gunslinger]

I also saw it as very negative. An excellent movie overall, but I dont' think I'd see it again.

What happened to the spoiler tags?

 

[Darrin Drader]

In one of the features on the disk, I think they talk about an ending that was written where Clementine was going to get the treatment, or was upset about the treatment. She was older, like in her 40s or 50's, and the two of them were still getting together and breaking up, but because they kept wiping their memories, they were forgetting what happened, and thus were doomed to repeat their mistakes continuously.

Unless I misinterpreted the movie, it heavily implied that this was more like the third time that they'd erased their memories, hence the reason that they were both more resistant to it this time.

But I agree that this was an excellent movie. To be honest, I'm not a Jim Carrey fan. That was one major strike against the movie. In fact, when my wife rented it, I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to like it. So I glanced at it for a few seconds here and there while I was eating dinner and asked her, very politely and apologetically, to start the movie over. It was a quality movie, which came as a pleasant surprise. I wish Hollywood would make more movies of this calibre.

 

[Berandor]

I loved the movie as well, and I got a positive message from it.

Also, thought that

Spoiler

the ending enhanced the implication that they'D do the same mistakes over and over, erasing their memories again.