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intereact!Director: Michel Gondry
Actors: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Gerry Robert Byrne, Elijah Wood, and Thomas Jay Ryan
Rated: R (Restricted)
Retail Price (not our price): $29.98
Release Date: 2005-01-04
Theatrical Release Date: 2004-03-19
Studio: Universal Studios
Run Time: 108 minutes
Format: Array
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Discs: 2
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com
Screenwriters rarely develop a distinctive voice that can be recognized from movie to movie, but the ornate imagination of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) has made him a unique and much-needed cinematic presence. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a guy decides to have the memories of his ex-girlfriend erased after she's had him erased from her own memory--but midway through the procedure, he changes his mind and struggles to hang on to their experiences together. In other hands, the premise of memory-erasing would become a trashy science-fiction thriller; Kaufman, along with director Michel Gondry, spins this idea into a funny, sad, structurally complex, and simply enthralling love story that juggles morality, identity, and heartbreak with confident skill. The entire cast--Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, and more--give superb performances, carefully pitched so that cleverness never trumps feeling. A great movie. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
1) MUST HAVE [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This movie is One of Jim Carrey's best I really suggest you get it, it might be a confusing theme but once you see it, it's great.2) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Relationships can end terribly and if they do, most of the people involved want to forget that it ever happened. Well, what if that was an option for separated couples? What if people could actually erase their memory of a failed relationship and partner? And most importantly, would it be worth it? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" asks these questions as the film wonderfully and cleverly unfolds. Never have I seen a film that I and others can easily relate to. This film is wonderfully acted, sports amazing direction, and is extremely touching when it comes to its characters and subject matter. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) learns that his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had their relationship erased from her memory by Lacuna Inc, run by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Not knowing what to do, he decides to have the process done as well, wanting Clementine out of his mind for good. Once Mierzwiak and his fellow workers, Stan (Mark Ruffalo), Patrick (Elijah Wood), and Mary (Kirsten Dunst) have begun to delete Joel's memory of the relationship one frame at a time, Joel discovers that that there are aspects of the relationship that he wants to keep. Thus, he journeys through his mind as he tries to preserve as much memory of Clementine as he can, hoping she won't be erased forever. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a film that is rare in Hollywood these days. It's engaging, touching, funny, realistic, and most of all, original. Expertly written by Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry, it's a film that expresses how important relationships are regardless of how much they may hurt at times. Jim Carrey (best known for his roles in "Dumb and Dumber" and "Ace Ventura" films) truly shines here as Joel. From desperate to getting rid of Clementine to desperate trying to keep her, he handles it perfectly. The chemistry Carrey has with Kate Winslet is genuine and real. Speaking of Winslet, her quirky Clementine is the ying to awkward Joel's yang. Again, perfect. All the other performances are great as well and really help round out the film. This is a Michel Gondry meaning one can expect something visually unique and original, and he doesn't disappoint in this department. The story moves at a brisk pace and never in linear fashion. It's quite complex and should be watched more than once to truly appreciate what is happening. Gondry utilizes subtle, but amazing special effects to portray Joel's crumbling mind and his use of color is outstanding. Without his direction, the film wouldn't be as great as it is. Michel Gondry's, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," is a film that needs to be seen by everyone. A complex, original story filled with lively characters and a relatable situation. Most importantly though, it's moved me in ways that films rarely can. And that's saying something.3) Failed to impress [Rating: 1 out of 5]
I loved all of the actors in that movie. It disappointed me so much when I started to watch it. I was expecting an amazing movie, but instead it bored me and made me fall asleep.4) Sort of brilliant, sort of stupid [Rating: 2 out of 5]
I wanted to like this, as I liked the Malkovich movie so much, but I'm afraid it just isn't that good. The problem for me was that, despite some truly wonderful, strange images (something like 80% of the movie takes place in Carrey's head while he's asleep and supposedly being deprogrammed of his memories of his girlfriend), what's delivered to us at the end is a very simplistic message: it's hard to live with someone. I guess what I'm saying is that the stakes are too low here. That question -- how do you make love stay, since people will inevitably get on each others' nerves -- is pretty realistic; the film then yokes it to a very Philip K. Dick-ian premise of a company that can selectively erase memories (the company's name is "Lacuna"). It's unclear to what extent this is supposed to be humor, but it's certainly absurd enough that we're unlikely to take it too seriously, even if it seems the actors are (and Jim Carrey does a whole lot of emoting). All this adds up to a story that is interesting in lots of ways, but just doesn't hang together tonally, or intellectually. I rarely get bored watching movies, but I was checking my watch about an hour into this one. It's confusing to watch, and I think unecessarily so. It's just that if the story-telling were less disjointed, the underlying banality would be apparent.5) A great movie, in great visual quality [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Eternal Sunshine is on a list of movies that I love but never got around to buying on DVD. When I see a movie from that list on HD DVD, I usually spring for it.The visual quality here was very good. I have not dug into the extra content much though.For the movie itself..Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a fantastic story about love, envy, heartbreak, and the other stuff that comes from relationships. Jim Carrey is very good as the meek Joel. Kate Winslet is also good as the scattered Clementine.This movie should be watched every year on February 14th.