Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Ugh. I know lots of people love, love, love this film but it just could not end soon enough for me. I had made a vow not to see anymore Charlie Kaufman films after “Being John Malkovich” but when I realized (very late) that Michel Gondry directed this one I changed my mind. I loved Gondry’s compilation of videos found on “The Work of Michel Gondry” DVD, but “Sunshine” is not as good as the weakest of these videos. Yes the sequences near the end are visually compelling but not nearly as effective as the video work. The story of “memory erase” just feels cheap to me and does not fulfill. The whole Gift of the Magi nightmare at the end just did not work for me. A plain old love story between the two leads would have been more welcome. They are so charming together, and there in lies my frustration… appealing cast who have great chemistry with each other but not with the script. Bless all of you who found joy in this piece.
Favorite moment: Joel and Clementine talking/flirting on the LIRR on their way back to NYC.
26