Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explores the relationship of Joel (Carey) and Clementine (Winslet) through dream-like memories while Joel undergoes a procedure to have her erased from his memory following her decision to do the same, post-breakup.
This idea is one to build upon and craft a story around, however a large majority of the movie is while Joel is inoculated during the procedure trying to run through his memories of Clementine in a fast moving, screen shifting pattern that leaves the viewer little time to digest each memory and fully understand what had gone on. I think this movie would've been better suited if we actually had a chance to see the breakup occur, do 30 mins or so under the procedure to give the viewer a quick idea of how happy they were at one point, then take the rest of the movie showing us their journey back to one another.
Additionally, the characters are just unlikable. Both Carey and Winslet play their parts convincingly, as they always do, but Joel is a soft spoken, uninspiring pity party while Clementine is a rash, over the top head case who prides herself on her eccentricity when in fact it just comes off as her being a (redacted).
All in all, this movie can be summed up by the anticlimactic final line: "OK."
This idea is one to build upon and craft a story around, however a large majority of the movie is while Joel is inoculated during the procedure trying to run through his memories of Clementine in a fast moving, screen shifting pattern that leaves the viewer little time to digest each memory and fully understand what had gone on. I think this movie would've been better suited if we actually had a chance to see the breakup occur, do 30 mins or so under the procedure to give the viewer a quick idea of how happy they were at one point, then take the rest of the movie showing us their journey back to one another.
Additionally, the characters are just unlikable. Both Carey and Winslet play their parts convincingly, as they always do, but Joel is a soft spoken, uninspiring pity party while Clementine is a rash, over the top head case who prides herself on her eccentricity when in fact it just comes off as her being a (redacted).
All in all, this movie can be summed up by the anticlimactic final line: "OK."