Review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) by Caleb J — 31 Aug 2014

First of all, a lot of people are lumping this movie with the Manic Pixie Dream Girl cliche, when I believe that it cleverly averts it. Those of you unaware, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a trope in the form of a quirky female lead whose soul purpose is to get the lonely guy out of a slump (Garden State, Elizabethtown, 500 Days of Summer, etc).

Clementine CLEARLY avoids this definition by telling Job to his face that she's not gonna rescue him or take any of his shit. Yes, she makes his life happier at times, but she makes it down-right miserable at others, and he naturally returns the favor. But their goals in the movie are mutual in that they both have to decide where they stand with each other.

Anyhoo, Michel Gondry's brilliant use of surreal imagery properly captures the essence of a dream without being all nightmarish and depressing like David Lynch. It's a brilliant movie. See it.