'Eternal Sunshine' is clever, satisfying romp

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

Focus Features ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (R) Four Stars (Excellent) A wonderfully entertaining and eccentric romance from inventive writer Charlie Kaufman and filmmaker Michel Gondry. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are star-crossed lovers who discover a doctor who can erase their memories of each other. Focus Features, 107 minutes.

That's the fascinating premise of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," the most recent and most romantic enterprise yet from the fertile mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

Kaufman is the one-of-kind writer who invented a fictitious brother for himself in "Adaptation" and took filmgoers inside the brain of a quirky actor in "Being John Malkovich."

In "Mind," Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are Joel and Clementine, star-crossed lovers who think they'd be better off if they could completely forget each other. They find eccentric Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) who has pioneered a way to eliminate specific memories from the human brain.

"Is there any chance of brain damage?" Joel asks. "Well, in a way, it is brain damage," the doctor replies, matter-of-factly.

Michel Gondry, who directed an earlier, less-focused Kaufman script called "Human Nature," is at the helm for this superior effort. Gondry assigned Kaufman to write "Eternal Sunshine" after a mutual friend suggested a starting point: Folks receive notes from a doctor saying their friend has had someone removed from his or her brain, so they shouldn't bring up his name.

Clearly, you give Kaufman an inch of an idea, and he comes up with a mile of wild imagination.

A large portion of the narrative takes place inside the brain of a central character — familiar terrain for Kaufman fans. Here the compulsively shy Joel takes a subjective look at his love for the colorful, outgoing Clementine. As she is erased — in stages — he reviews the relationship in reverse order, as we witness flashbacks to a variety of events. By the time Joel gets to the early joys of their love, he realizes he doesn't want Clementine erased. Ever. But is it too late to stop the process?

Gondry and Kaufman flavor their mind-game valentine with oddball supporting characters, including a trio of misfits who work for Dr. Mierzwiak: Two irresponsible technicians (Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood) who turn Joel's overnight mind-erasing session into a wild party, and an office assistant (Kirsten Dunst) with eyes for her boss.

Because much of the romance takes place in Joel's head, surreal images emerge, including the sight of Joel and Clementine in a double bed, sitting on a snow-covered ocean beach. But, for all its weirdness, "Eternal Sunshine" is easily the most accessible, affectionate and satisfying of Kaufman's several clever films.

Carrey is remarkably restrained, but effectively conveys the confusion and pain that often accompanies the ups and downs of love. Winslet is more vibrant and active, two qualities in marked contrast to Carrey's timidity.

For the record, the title of this — the first great film of 2004 — is adapted from a verse by Alexander Pope from "Eloisa to Abelard":

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."