By: debbie lynn elias
Anyone that knows me, knows this; when it comes to Jim Carrey, I am not a fan. With only two exceptions, I would rather have a root canal than watch a Carrey film. And after seeing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, I still prefer root canal.
Joel Barish has been dumped. Big time. And the dumping was to such a degree that his ex-girlfriend Clementine underwent an experimental procedure to permanently erase Joel from her mind. (Something I would like to try after seeing this movie.) Broken hearted, despondent and desperate to erase his pain, Joel seeks out Dr. Howard Mierzwiak to perform the same procedure on him so he can forget about Clementine and his heartbreak. Aided by some rather incompetent assistants, Mierzwiak begins the procedure, only to find resistance from Joel’s subconscious as it attempts to thwart the good doctor’s best efforts.
Jim Carrey takes another stab at drama with his portrayal of Joel. Vacuous, tempered and toned down, even bland, Joel is the antithesis of what we know Carrey to be and Carrey, trying to counter his well known manic characterizations, goes so far to the despondent side of the personality meter that he fails to even register. A bit more of the comic added to the serious nature of the part would, I believe, have given us a winning combination and much more effective performance. Sadly, Kate Winslet, who was magical as Rose in “Titanic” is wasted here as Clementine. Engaging, likeable and curiously quirky, Winslet’s high voltage wattage is lost on the overly tempered Carrey.
An interesting quartet of supporting characters, however, fair a bit better than Carrey. Tom Wilkinson is solid in his interpretation of Dr. Mierzwiak, giving us a man with a good bedside manner that seems to peer from a shroud of darkness. Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood as Mierzwiak’s assistants Mary and Patrick show once again that they have a wealth of untapped talent and ability as their performances are far superior to the film as a whole. The standout, however, is Mark Ruffalo as Mierzwiak’s assistant. Showing his diverse range of talents, Ruffalo is perfect as the nerdy Stan, creating a character depth that both shows and evokes emotion.
Directed by veteran music video director Michel Gondry, “Eternal Sunshine” begins as a frighteningly distressing piece of realism only to explode into a kaleidoscopic surrealism thanks to splashy visuals running free in the mind of our main character. With the choreographic flair of a music video, Gondry bounces around in Joel’s mind like a Wham-O Superball, jumping between the joyous and tragic memories of Joel’s less than wonderful life but adding a rather mutated skew to each visual. While the imagery is vivid, it fails to support the narrative backbone of the story, leading to a lack of continuity and a disjointedness in the film that mirrors its characters. One of the most gifted video directors of our time, Gondry’s style remains the same in shooting a feature film, which in this case, results in a failure to direct the audience through the convoluted labyrinth of the Charlie Kaufman story.
A large part of the failure of “Eternal Sunshine” falls on writer Charlie Kaufman who tries to be slick and quick with the written word, but in so doing, leaves his characters running on empty and his director with no way to fill in the gaps or tie the pieces together; disastrous for bringing the film to its ultimate conclusion. An interesting premise with some good conceptualization, Kaufman falls short on continuity and as a result, leaves his characters and the audience feeling disjointed and “lost.”
With a tagline of “Would you erase me?”, I can only beg someone to erase “Eternal Sunshine” from theaters – quickly.
Joel Barish: Jim Carrey Clementine: Kate Winslet Dr. Mierzwiak: Tom Wilkinson Stan: Mark Ruffalo Mary: Kirsten Dunst Patrick: Elijah Wood
Directed by Michael Gondry. Written by Charlie Kaufman. A Focus Features picture. Rated R. (110 min)
