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  1. #1
    Kam
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    filet - o - fish Kam's Avatar
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    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    The one thing i really wondered about after watching this was how much better could it have been had Spike Jonze directed it. Not taking anything away from the director, but the kaufman/jonze synergy has just been amazing imo. these two put out great movies that really give a different view of movies rather than the usual hollywood fare. kaufman wrote it and another in their click (i think, he's directed chemical bro's video's so am guessing he's part of the jonze crew) directed it really well, just... not like jonze. (i've heard the next jonze/kaufman project is supposed to be a horror movie, but who knows.)

    overall, its a very interesting idea (kind of a reverse total recall with more thought put into the technology and how it works and how carrey tries to thwart it once he realizes how important memories are) and all the performances were great. carrey, i thought, was believable in a subdued role, different from his other 'serious' roles in majestic and truman show. although kinda similar to truman in that whole 'trying tofigure out what's going on' kinda way, but only tangentantly (sp?). as we careen through his memories of kate winslet (who also does a great job playing the extroverted one to carrey's simpleton) we really see what memories can mean to us and also, how we are who we are because of our memories. maybe a more thoughtful script even then adaptation, this one really gets into who we are based on what we've gone through and what that all means.

    and, simple though they seemed, the special effects were great from a dissapearing car to a seemingly continuous shot on an escher-esque like street corner. very enjoyable movie.

    peace
    k2
    Last edited by Kam; 03-20-2004 at 01:03 PM. Reason: additional info

  2. #2
    Sgt. At Arms Worf101's Avatar
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    Interesting review...

    I wondered about this film, actually quite a lot. I'm always interested in "new" concepts etc.. I also like to see when "comedic" artists try to "go straight". I chuckled when Murray tried "The Razor's Edge" some twenty years ago.... then had to eat my words after "Lost in Translation". Jim Carrey has tried several "adult" roles... like in "The Majestic" but he never has rung quite true to me... and I don't think he's lived enough to pull one off. I'll be interested to see if this film makes a penny...

    Da Worfster

  3. #3
    Close 'n PlayŽ user Troy's Avatar
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    This is the best movie I've seen in years.

    Really.

    I was a huge fan of the excruciating clever and bizarre "Being Malkovich" as well as the more confusing and cynical, but no less clever "Adaptation", but this new movie really takes the Kaufman weirdness to a different, more humane level. By far, it's his most fully realized and complete script.

    Alternately funny, heart-wrenching, philosophically provocative and romantic with a dash of fantasy and sci-fi. It's a real adult story with the ultimately classic and basic message that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

    It's a real tour-de-force for Jim Carrey. Normally I CAN'T STAND Carrey and his incessant mugging and overwrought "Firemarshall Bill" B.S. When he tried his hand at more serious roles like Truman or Majestic, he failed miserably, over-acting and nauseatingly maudlin, but here, he's right on the mark. He's no simpleton, but rather he's a shy, introverted artist who crawls out of his shell as the story evolves and he fights to save his memories. And Winslet was a revelation here as well. The perfect sexy and shallow extrovert with insanely dyed hair to draw this poor repressed nerd out of his shell.

    I loved the surreality of the movie. It's gritty boho urban banality on the edge of madness feel really kept me involved. The scenes where he keeps looking over his shoulder to find the same scene with his crashed car while the stone fronts and signs go more blank with each look were horrifyingly disorienting and just fabulous film making. When the I realized how the front end of the story ties into the back end (without spoiling it), I was extremely satisfied and bemused. The scenes with him trying to plant Winslet into his most repressed memories where she wasn't supposed to be so the stunningly inept scientists couldn't find them were a riot. The subplot of Kirsten Dunst's relationship with the doctor and how it ties into the Winslet / Carrey relationship was truly inspired.

    This is a great, great film.

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