Welcome back to another issue of Your Movie Mage, where I discuss underrated movies across genres. Last week, we discussed the beautiful movie, “The Sound of Metal,” and this week, we’ll discuss the crushing, but moving, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
I already know what you’re thinking: “’Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ is not an underrated movie.” Well, it is to me. I’m the one with the power of the written word and I like talking about this movie.
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a movie that you shouldn’t watch with your partner—or should you? It follows Joel Barish, played by Jim Carrey, who is a quiet and pessimistic middle-aged man. He erases the memory of his ex-girlfriend, Clementine Kruczynski, played by Kate Winslet, after finding out she did the same.
The movie is mostly set inside Joel’s mind as he relives memories involving Clementine. Initially, Joel goes through the more recent memories of Clementine where they’re fighting and about to break up.
As the movie progresses, Joel reaches the happier memories, where he finds Clementine and does everything he can to prevent her erasure. We see Joel drag Clementine to old memories in a near-successful attempt to remember her enough to find her after the procedure.
The two do find one another, despite neither of them remembering the other. They’re drawn to each other, like the first time they met, with clear complications that don’t prevent them from entering a relationship again.
The format of this film is genius, as it introduces the relationship as it’s falling apart but later shows the happy beginning. Viewers may initially think they are bad together but, by the end of the movie, we see the genuine love between the two and understand their connection.
The film also deliberately flips the idea of a manic pixie dream girl. Clementine is energetic and creative, whereas Joel is the opposite. This is not an original trope for a relationship, but the way it’s portrayed is unique.
Clementine has clearly been expected to liven someone else’s existence, which she doesn’t want repeated with Joel. She doesn’t like being viewed as a phase for someone to experience and come out of as a more interesting person; she just wants to be loved.
The scenery also makes this movie stand out. The movie is set in New York and has multiple gorgeous scenes on a New England beach, which I’m biased towards, but I think is special and deserves more love. My favorite is the beach scene in winter, which you can only really experience up north.
This movie has a creative, beautiful portrayal of love, heartbreak, memories and dreams. I have yet to see a movie that portrays dreams in such a realistic way, which I have a whole article dedicated to if you’re interested.
For all the couples reading this and considering watching this movie together, I think you should. While it isn’t the most heartwarming couple’s movie, it does have an important message, and it could be fun to consider what you would do if this operation existed.
Regardless, depending on how you view it, it’s hopeful. It shows viewers that you don’t have to view dating as something that only matters in its conclusion; while you may break up, as long as you enjoy the time together, it’s worth it.
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is definitely known to be an incredible movie, and so it’s hard to argue it’s underrated in the typical sense. However, it’s just that good that the fact people aren’t always talking about it makes it underrated in my eyes. For this reason, I give it an underratedness score of 3/5.