....... been dying to see it for ages now.Eternal Sunshine is about a man who discovers that his ex-girlfriend has had a procedure to completely erase him from her memories. On finding this out he decides to have the procedure done himself and in turn erase her from his. However during the process he realises that he doesn't want to completely forget her........ and tries to hold onto his memories of her by smuggling them into his other memories.
Well thats the blurb that you'll read everywhere, but its about alot more than just that, don't want to spoil it for everyone as I really recommend checking this movie out.
Most people I've talked to about this movie are immediately put off when hearing that Jim Carrey is the lead......... let me just say now, this isn't one of his usual over-the-top, Jerry Lewis style performances......... if you don't like Carrey then it doesn't matter in the slightest, within 5 minutes into the film you don't even realise its him. I wish he'd do more films like this............ but then again there really aren't many films like this at all.
It was directed by Michel Ghondry, for those of you that are interested in Music Videos, you'll probably know his name. He's one of the big guns in top notch music videos along with people like Spike Jonze.
Interestingly enough Spike Jonez's own step into making movies has a very similar vibe. Being John Malkovich was an offbeat, slightly weird and extremely anti-hollywood movie. Eternal Sunshine follows in the same footsteps, refreshingly providing another Feature Film created by a mind whos used to capturing peoples attention and telling a story in 3 minutes of video time.
There really is no point comparing the two aside from the reason of hoping that more of the top Music Video producers perhaps make a step towards Hollywood..... well thats what I thought anyway, until the credits came up and I realised that Eternal Sunshine was written by Charles Kaufman....... who yes also wrote Being John Malkovich.
I loved Eternal Sunshine.......... I have to admit that I've liked this movie before I even saw it just from reading about the premise of it........ and that I wanted to love it before I had even sat down to watch it.... and I guess I was really stoned when I saw it. But I really think it was a great film...... and a nice change after all the disappointing blockbusters that have come out over the last couple of years.
If you're not into slightly leftfield and offbeat films, then this might not be the movie for you. Its extremely unconventional yet still its very gentle, so don't expect too much Hollywood shine. Ghondry ( no idea how to spell his name) goes for the subtle approach throwing in a few glitzy moments here and there, and even though this is only his second movie, and hes still a little rough around the edges, his enthusiasm and approach just makes up for it.
I really recommend you check this film out, even if you hate Jim Carrey.... even if you prefer your movies with a 100 million dollar budget......... just check it out. I realise alot of people won't like it, but its one of those films that became a cult classic the minute it was made. At the heart of it is a beautiful love story, and even though it has a happy vibe running through the whole movie it delivers a more realistic approach to love and relationships than the usual ride off into the sunset crap we get everyday.
I have to say though that the film could have done with being somewhat darker, the feel of the movie didn't quite fit with the dark humour, so it felt a little disjointed.
Also the cocnept of the movie seems to be better than the actual film, if that makes sense?
At times it seems to run out of ideas and just play the same idea over and over again which gets a little tedious. It could have done with a few more set pieces and perhaps a little alteration on the original story, which from viewing the film may have been a little bare to start with. Whereas Being John Malkovich was a glimpse into the mind of the writer, spewing out relentless fears and ideas, this movie appears to be just one of those thoughts stretched out to fill 2 hours. The sub-plot is a little weak, and the main plot seems to have been overlooked somewhat, so what you are left with is two pretty good stories, but neither are great.
The story ends up being just a little too sentimental and slushy, and there aren't enough moments of weirdness....... just a few of them strewn together in the midle of the film.
Anyway enough waffling...... any movie that makes we want to see it again when the credits roll is good in my books. Its not as good as I had hoped........ I really thought this was going to rate in my top ten before I saw it.... but still its nice to see something a little bit different now and then.
If you liked films like Being John Malkovich and Donnie Darko, you'll probably like this. If you didn't I don't know. blah just check it out........ if you don't like it blame me and I'll take responsibility. It saddens me when movies like this get so little press when big blockbuster comic book remake trash get all the headlines.
Shit what a long post
....... think I'll shut up. 