eternal sunshine

Last night some scotts and i went out to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'm a big fan of Charlie Kaufmann (the screenwriter), whose other noteworthy works include Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. I was already familiar with his loopy, often self-referential psychological themes, so they didn't carry the novelty that I felt in some of his earlier films, but still very clever and entertaining, and with a bit more heart this time around. Anyone who has ever felt socially awkward can likely appreciate the hyperbolic lens he brings to these things...

The most moving part about watching the movie, though, was my own personal reactions to it. As you travel back through the memories of Carrey's character I couldn't help but start to reflect on my own host of memories from the last 24+ years. All the recessed memories that barely come out to the surface... sights, sounds, and smells that evoke these buried experiences, and people who, through distance or estrangement, are more real to me now as characters in my mind than they are as actual people. How realistic are the models our mind constructs of our friends, lovers, and acquaintances... aren't most of our friends' behaviors wholly predictable to us?

Furthermore, Kate Winslet's character was, to me, an interesting juxtaposition of personality traits of women (mostly high school intimates of one form or another) I once knew many years ago. Seeing them mixed together into an interpolated, adult persona sent my mind a-resonating -- the what ifs, what nots, and what have you's. Of course, it doesn't hurt either that Winslet is quite attractive, regardless of the hue of her hair dye.

So anyway, if you like interesting psychological loopiness with humor to boot (and an amazing 20 minute, falling in love introduction), check it out. Now it's on to the Ladykillers... I gotta keep up with those Coen brothers, too.