Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 218
Fresh: 203 | Rotten: 15
Propelled by Charlie Kaufman's smart, imaginative script and Michel Gondry's equally daring directorial touch, Eternal Sunshine is a twisty yet heartfelt look at relationships and heartache.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 38 | Rotten: 4
Propelled by Charlie Kaufman's smart, imaginative script and Michel Gondry's equally daring directorial touch, Eternal Sunshine is a twisty yet heartfelt look at relationships and heartache.
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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 503,889
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The second feature from director Michel Gondry (Human Nature) finds the filmmaker reteaming with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for this off-the-wall romantic comedy. Jim Carrey stars as Joel Barish, a man who is informed that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had her memories of their relationship erased from her brain via an experimental procedure performed by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Not to be outdone, Joel decides to have the same procedure done to himself. As Mierzwiak's
R, 1 hr. 48 min.
Mar 19, 2004 Wide
Sep 28, 2004
$34.1M
Focus Features
All Critics (218) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (213) | Rotten (15) | DVD (51)
It's the kind of film that could mean more to people after they've left the theater and thought about it awhile.
There is little charm in the coupling and almost no erotic intimacy, just a series of nerve-racking conversational collisions.
The disappointment I felt at the end of Eternal Sunshine was almost crushing, simply because there were sections of it that were as daring in their emotional directness as anything I've seen in years.
[Kaufman] clearly surpasses himself.
Neither wholly cynical nor wholly romantic, Kaufman's story is a balance of smarts and sentiment.
The perfect movie about love's inevitable imperfections.
Imaginative, loopy romance is for adults only.
Michel Gondry tries to channel Fellini and ends up irrigating faulty plumbing.
This is a wonderful, often beautiful, and melancholy character study of romance, humanity, and the mind with wonderful acting, incredible surrealism and a funny and heart-wrenching story.
The film entertains for the most part and gives us a set of marvellous performances from this outstanding cast, even if it doesn't quite reach the near-genius of Kaufman's other writings.
Most imaginative and impressively executed...
Kaufman and Gondry bring out all the weirdness of the premise, sometimes eliciting disbelieving laughter, sometimes taking us to odd, chilly places.
Walking into a theater with Charlie Kaufman on the screen is like volunteering for that wacky boat trip Willy Wonka took through the chocolate factory tunnel...
Works marvel after marvel in expressing the bewildering beauty and existential horror of being trapped inside one's own addled mind, and in allegorising the self-preserving amnesia of a broken but hopeful heart.
Eternal Sunshine is fresh, heartfelt and ultimately heartbreaking in its honest portrayal of a modern relationship.
The reality is that Hollywood is such an idea poor place Kaufman tends to get more credit than he deserves for work which only occasionally rises above the level of mind games and showy sleight of hand.
It is an enchanting clutter of love and reason that will only appeal to the audience willing to take the time to see the movie and then think about it later.
A unique deconstruction of man's innate desire to avert heartache.
The kind of movie that only gets better the more you think about it and I think it cries out for repeat viewings.
The two-disc set here does a good job of fleshing out the background of the film. The bonus features make it a definite purchase for any fan.
It's a movie that careens wildly through the barricades that normally, politely cordon off narrative cinema from the rest of 'real' life.
You won't soon forget this walk down memory lane. Actually, make that a RUN down memory lane.
An incredibly original and well thought out movie with a great screenplay and great acting by nearly everyone in the film.
July 9, 2011Super Reviewer
I love twisted mind of the writer of this film. It wasn't always an instant favourite with me, but this is a film I appreciate more the older I get.Both Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet out of their comfort zones when it comes ot how we are used to seeing them on screen, but both were enjoyable characters.The concept of
June 4, 2007Super Reviewer
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Red Tails, This Means War
Trailer: In bed with Zoe and Bradley
Video: Your friendly four minute preview
Latest trailer from Michel Gondry