BluRay Review: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

When Jim Carrey burst into movies with the Ace Ventura comedies, he was already established for his TV work. A bombastic comic who had admittedly been inspired by Jerry Lewis, Carrey established a following with similar slapstick comedies like Liar Liar and Dumb and Dumber. Along the way, Carrey investigated different approaches to his comedy with the outrageous partially animated The Mask and the edgy Cable Guy. Carrey eventually decided to stretch with more serious roles, and when The Truman Show became a hit, he investigated further opportunities.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind might be the best of his non-comedy films and one of his most impressive, stirring performances. Michael Gondry’s film, based on Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay, is a dark, compelling masterwork that engages cinematic ideas to present an off-kilter sci-fi drama that delves into erasing some levels of an individual’s memory.

Kate Winslet co-stars along with support from Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson.

Kino Lorber’s new blur ray is a new 4K Master that has been color graded by cinematographer Ellen Kuras. It has a wealth of special features, including audio commentary by Director Michel Gondry and Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, a new interview with Kuras, a conversation with Carrey and Gondry, a conversation with Kate Winslet and Gondry, deleted and extended scenes, and other interesting tidbits that enhance the blu ray.

While a cult following embraces Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this 2004 release truly is one of the best cinematic achievements of the 2000s. Everyone involved with the production offers somewhere near their career-best work.

The blu ray can be purchased here: ETERNAL/SPOTLESS