Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is one of the strangest romantic dramas you'll ever see. Jim Carry, hurt after his ex girlfriend had her memories of him removed, decides to do the same only to find he still loves her and it may be too late to correct his mistake. ESOTSM was a frustrating experience for me. This is full of beautifully acted scenes which are well directed and feel meaningful. Jim Carry has never been better and probably should have been nominated for an Oscar. Kate Winslet is completely superb. Those moments are strong and enjoyable and decently directed. That's what I want to see. I don't want to see what follows, which is a load of bizarre, surreal science fiction nonsense which is just confusing but that's what I get. I can enjoy beautifully acted scenes of drama or I can watch some nonsensical inside your head rubbish which hyper-actively zips from scene to scene like Twitchy the squirrel from Hoodwinked. I cannot do both at the same time.

Easily one of the most overrated films of the 2000s, ESOTSM is an interesting film instead of a particularly good one. It's well acted, though Kirsten Dunst who is well regarded for some reason is pretty weak. The direction is OK and there is some very clever writing. Sadly, it's just a great big mess. As a result of the films insistence on surreal stupidity, it loses its message and its emotional impact. As Jim Carry races through his mind trying to avoid allowing his memories to be erased, 2 other characters are trying to find him on a computer. That is like me trying to keep up with the message of this movie. To be fair, it has some promising early scenes and there are various truths about love and heartache which feel genuine and important. Thankfully, the film doesn't veer into sentimental stupidity and isn't anyway near as unbearable as many other romantic dramas from the 2000s. There is definitely sunshine here, but it certainly isn't eternal. Everyone else seems to love this movie, so it seems I am alone in my opinion. It's well acted and written at times and I may give it another go. If I can even be bothered, which is doubtful.

5/10