Every once in a while, you walk into a movie and get completely surprised. There we all were a few years ago wondering why Hollywood was so committed to Jim Carrey and his endless desire to be recognized as a “serious” actor. Did Joe Montana insist to play linebacker or was winning super bowls enough to catapult his self-esteem into a place where therapists everywhere were organizing bake sales in the absence of work? Instead, Kate the Great turns in the performance of a lifetime(see below), a quirky script comes to life with a great cast and New York seems more than the Siberia it has become. Movies are final frontier of the mind and yours will enjoy its time with Clementine.
The cast performance as a whole was very good to great depending on how you judge Kate the Great as Clementine. For me, it was the performance I was seeking from a woman for a lifetime. But Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst were perfect as underlings in research roles, and Tom Wilkinson steadies the ship in his role.
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is likely to remain in my top ten favorite movies for the rest of my life. I walked out of the theater amazed at the performances I witnessed and how differently the movie finalized from my perceptions of the previews and reviews. I still can’t imagine the movie having any other title. I hope my funeral is attended by dozens of Clementines. I am impressed that Joel Barish’s narratives on the train are so eerily familiar to those I see in the eyes at airports, check-out lines and hotels around the world. I can’t believe that America’s version of Siberia came to life, the boldness of filming such a vibrant effort in winter in a place without sun. I was surprised that a movie that seemed at first destined to the SyFy channel is better suited for repeats on the Classic Movie channel once the constitutional amendment forbidding the showing of Shawshenk is passed.
Regarding Tripod’s Review
“When a fella says I do at his wedding he is contractually agreeing to being married once to five different women, and Clementine is that primer for the observant male.” Now that’s getting a lot out of a movie.
Regarding MetalJunky5000’s Review
I’m with you Junky in appreciating Charlie Kaufman. The guy’s certainly one of the most interesting and brilliant screenwriters working today. It’s been a few years, but I seem to recall liking Adaptation and Being John Malkovich as much or more than ESOTSM.