The Deloitte Event: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Once again, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman provides us with an intelligent, thought-provoking story. Kaufman brought us Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Human Nature. This time, he asks us what would we do if we had the technology to erase bad past experiences from our minds, even entire relationships. Would our lives be better? Is ignorance bliss? Or are we shaped by the memories and experiences of our existence? Do they truly shape who we are?

The story is a complicated tale. Joel Barish (Carrey) seems like the average guy who remains in isolation from his true feelings to others and yet reveals spectacular insight to his diary. He doesn't act on impulses or gut feelings but relies on common sense and logic until he meets Clementine (Winslet). They flirt and find themselves falling in love? That is until one day Joel finds out that Clementine has taken part in a procedure to erase him from her memories because she was so unhappy.

Surprisingly, this low budget independent film carries an impressive amount of A-list actors and manages to have them perform well beyond that expected of them. Jim Carrey, who had an unsuccessful attempt at drama with Man on the Moon, plays the lead role of Joel straight, instead of his usual wacky delivery and gives his most human performance, and in my opinion his best. Kate Winslet, playing Clementine, the girlfriend Joel wants to either love or forget, is wacky, colourful and hilarious – it's as if the two actors have been reversed to great effect.

Jonathan Downing