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Created Sep 01, 2010 09:04PM PST • Edited Sep 01, 2010 09:16PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Perfect 5.0

   Interesting, brilliant, heartwarming, and strange. Those are just a few of thousands of words that come to my mind whenever I think of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Writer Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry bring to the screen and original, funny, and beautiful piece of work that makes good use of a talented cast, a dream like setting and atmosphere, and a very original story.

   When I first heard of ESOTSM, I didn’t quite know what to expect out of it. But after watching the film, what I got was nothing less of a total surprise. I found myself impressed by the visual style and the writing. While the film is very strange and comes close to being total fantasy, its remains very relatable to anyone who’s been in a relationship or who has ever had thoughts on the one that got away.

   The film focuses on Joel Barrish (Jim Carrey, performing with some serious chops), a shy and antisocial artist who finds himself never wanting to fall in love. Until he meets Clementine (the always excellent Kate Winslet), who immediately falls for. Soon, their relationship falls apart and they break up. Soon, Joel learns Clementine has had him erased from her memory and Joel looks to get the same operation performed on him. But as we journey inside Joel’s mind during said operation, he has second throughts about having Clementine erased from his mind.

   While indeed a strange movie, ESOTSM is still worth the time. Its a beautiful piece of movie making and incredibly original. One of the best films of the decade. A must see.

4. Acting

   Perfect 5.0

   The acting in the film is phenomenal.

   As far as I’m concerned, Carrey deserved an oscar nomination for his performance as Joel. While restraining from his crazy and over the top shtick that he’s pulled in many of his past films, Carrey remains very engaging and we, the audience, enjoy accompanying him on his journey through his mind.

   Winslet was robbed of her Oscar for her performance as Clementine. She’s pitch perfect in the role as she adjusts to Joel at the beginning of the movie, we feel the emotions as she shows them through her facial expressions and actions.

   As for the rest of the supporting cast (Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst), they are, for the most part, great. What brought them down a bit was Elijah Wood. While a great actor, he felt a bit lifeless and a tiny bit annoying in this. Everyone else, just great.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

6. Female Stars Perfect 5.0

7. Female Costars Really Great 4.5

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    The visual style is very unique and the script is very original. The music is fitting as it is perfectly suited for the tone in this movie.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Perfect 5.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.3

    Some sexual content and quite a bit of profanity.

17. Sex Erotic 3.0

18. Violence Gentle 1.0

19. Rudeness Profane 3.0

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.6

    The situations feel real. Erasing one’s memory with some giant machine, however, is not.

22. Circumstantial Supernatural 3.6

23. Biological Supernatural 3.6

24. Physical Supernatural 3.6