Top Ten of The Decade #6

 #6 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The movie starts, and you’re thinking: “Great, another indie love story about an emo guy and an annoying feminist” – let the self-loathing begin. Then the movie takes a turn into memory erasing glory and doesn’t stop spinning until the very end.  The story revolves around Joel (Jim Carey) as he attempts to erase the memory of Clementine (Kate Winslet) only to find that though he can erase her from his mind he can’t erase her from his heart.  There is a lot more to it, but let’s be clear, you must see this movie more than once to fully understand/appreciate it. That is partly due to the way it all unfolds, which is a bit schizophrenic but with good reason. By jumping from memory to memory the viewers begin to see a collage of one couples relationship – from the good times and the bad times. And this movie’s foundation is the realness of their relationship. Unlike most Hollywood romances we see the intimate moments shared between two people in love that we rarely see on the screen.  We see Joel and Clementine’s weird inside jokes, them disclosing their deepest fears and insecurities, them in their happiest moments, and their fights which are just as cruel and nasty as real fights can sadly be. Adding to it is Michael Gondry’s imagination which makes every scene… well, interesting. With him at the helm, jumping from Joel’s memory to real time is as simple and effective as Joel moving from one room to another. Thankfully, his artful hand never feels forced or tacky, but remains feeling like a wholly fresh experience throughout. This is one of the best love stories I have ever seen – it is raw, fantastic, and it’s got something to say.

Favorite Moment: When Joel and Clementine return to the house on the beach where they first met (all inside Joel’s memory).  As the memory is getting erased, the house begins to fall apart and Joel is about to take his cue and leave Clementine alone just like he did in real life, when Clementine asks, “What if you stayed this time.” Breaking the rules, the two lovers spend one last moment together before the memory is erased forever and Clementine mysteriously whispers “Meet me in Montauk.”

- By Scott