I'm a huge fan of Jim Carey, and of the psychologically ambiguous plot, but for some reason had missed this movie until now. I knew it wasn't his usually slapstick that had given him his reputation, and I was excited to see Carey move from comedy to drama so effortlessly.
"Eternal Sunshine" appears to start out as a linear love story, the down and out story of two lost souls who are drawn together by fate - well, the last part is, fate, is certainly true. But when the plot takes a turn and we discover that Clementine (Kate Winslet) has gone so far as to actually have her ex-boyfriend Joel (Jim Carey) erased from her memory, it's clear there's going to be more to the story.
The movie takes us on a journey through Joel's memories, and both he and the audience realize that however bad a relationship, there are usually more good times than bad. And even the bad memories are precious to us, they make us who we are, and maybe the pain we feel in remembering is necessary to moving on - as opposed to the forgetting.
As Joel and Clementine (his memory of her) race to hide her deep within his psychosis, we the audience cheer him on, and it is a sad moment when the last hint of her is erased from his mind, at least we think it is. But what this movie seems to say is that no matter how hard we try to forget, love will bring us together again and again. And if two people are meant to be, they will just keep bumping into each other, repeating the same mistakes. Or, we can use the benefit of our memories and experience to move on and start fresh, acknowledging our mistakes and making our lives better.
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