Emotions of 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' really resonate

“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?”

This line is said in the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It’s from a poem by Alexander Pope, or as he’s called in the film, Pope Alexander.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a 2004 romantic comedy/sci-fi/drama about a couple who use a service called Lacuna to erase each other from their memories. Clementine, played by Kate Winslet, erases Joel, played by Jim Carrey, from her mind. Joel finds out she did that, which he was never supposed to, and in turn wants her erased from his memory.

The film has a bit of a nonlinear timeline, almost in the way “500 Days of Summer” does, except it doesn’t tell you what is happening when. It isn’t until the end that all of the pieces come together.

“Eternal Sunshine” was recommended to me because of my love of, if I’m being completely honest, failed-relationship movies. Something about movies where relationships don’t end well is so real to me, and I much prefer them to sappy, happy-ending romance movies (though that’s not to say I haven’t seen my fair share of them).

“Eternal Sunshine” really nails the tragedy and the pain of failed relationships. At its core, the film is just about emotions; if not for that, I don’t think it would have worked.

The director, Michael Gondry, apparently didn’t realize how realistic the movie was himself until his girlfriend left him during the editing process. He says the movie is now too sad for him to watch.

It’s been a while since I watched a movie I genuinely enjoyed, and I was beginning to fear I was losing my taste for movies. Turns out, that wasn’t the case; I’ve just lost my taste for bad movies. “Eternal Sunshine” made me remember how much I enjoyed good movies.

I haven’t seen Carrey in many things where he’s not being a goofball; two of his works I know best are “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” The only time I’ve seen him be serious in anything was “The Truman Show.”

Seeing him in “Eternal Sunshine” was a refreshing change of pace. It was shocking for me to see that he is more than just jokes; he’s actually a pretty solid actor.

Overall, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was a fantastic film. It provided beautiful shots, interesting characters and a wonderful story. It also proposed an interesting question: Would you erase a relationship that ended poorly completely from your memory, even if that meant erasing all the good memories?

Grade: B+