 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2004
Common Sense Media says
Imaginative, loopy romance is for adults only.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has extremely strong language and very explicit sexual references and situations. Characters drink and smoke cigarettes and marijuana.
What's the story?
Joel (Jim Carrey) is a shy man whose heart is broken when impulsive and free-spirited Clementine (Kate Winslet) leaves him. When he finds out that she's going to have all of her memories of him erased, he decides to do the same and consults Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkenson) of the Lacuna corporation, who talks him into the procedure. Joel brings everything that reminds him of Clementine and dictates all of his memories of her into a tape recorder. Then Stan (Mark Ruffalo), the Lacuna technician, begins the process of erasing Clementine's memory from Joel's brain. Mary (Kirsten Dunst), Lacuna's receptionist, mails out postcards to Joel's friends asking them never to mention Clementine again. But erasing someone from the mind is one thing; erasing someone from the heart is another. As Stan zaps the memories from Joel's brain, Joel realizes that he does not want to let Clementine go after all. There are memories he wants to keep. And then we are inside Joel's brain (or were we there all along?), as he and Clementine race to find a place to hide, where the memories will be kept safe. Or are those new memories? And is that Clementine who is advising him on how to hold on to her or is it his memory of her?
Is it any good?
This fabulously imaginative and deliciously loopy romance is the sweetest movie yet from the magnificently twisty mind of writer Charlie Kaufman, who plays with the themes of identity, time, memory, and attraction in a slightly off-kilter world that seems oddly homelike and familiar. Shot in a style that is both gritty and dreamy, the movie's insinuatingly casual tone gently nudges the concepts along so that it almost begins to make more sense than real life.
Carrey and Winslet risk making their characters as maddening to us as they are to each other and are ultimately as irresistible, too. Ruffalo, Wilkenson, and Dunst are impeccable, providing a bittersweet counterpoint of imperfection and longing. Director Michel Gondry matches Kaufman's script with understated but brilliantly original imagery of memory and forgetting.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about which memories they might think about erasing and which ones they will always make sure to keep. They might also like to look up the meaning of the word "Lacuna," talk about some of their favorite quotations and read some of the brilliant poetry of Alexander Pope.
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AGE
good movie if you want something complex..
Sometimes we're in the mood for a romance that isn't so sally-met-harry and little more unpredictable... this is definitely one of them. A good movie that keeps you thinking-- good acting. For more mature audiences..
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AGE
incomprehensible
What were these two excellent actors thinking. This is a stupid, ill conceived somewhat sour movie. COmpletely missable.
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AGE
I really didn't have a problem with it...
Coming from an average, well raised fourteen year old girl, I didn't have much of a problem tolerating the content. It's not like any of it is new....there's a bit of smoking marijuana, nudity....well, most teenagers have seen that before most likely in heath class or movies. I think that it was creatively brilliant and had fantastic directing/acting, so my recommendation is: give it a shot, close your eyes at the nudity if you want (it's not too graphic, I promise), and you may actually like it. :) Hope I helped :)
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AGE
BRILLIANT!!!!
This is, by far, the best work that Jim Carrey has EVER done; even better than "The Truman Show." Also turning in a rather fabulous performance is one of my favorite actresses, the marvelous Kate Winslet. Charlie Kauffman once again proves his brilliance in this, zany, eccentric, and undeniably sweet romantic comedy-sci fi-thing. The film begins at the end, one of the brilliances of it, so my review may prove to be confusing, but one of the films' many strengths is the way that it takes sucha complicated idea and make it easy-to-follow without being simple or shallow. Here goes nothin': Jim Carrey boards a train and meets Kate Winslet, and they sprak a relationship. Then the film goes forward (or backward?) in time to where he and she broke up. While attempting to win back Winslet's Clementine, Carrey's Joel realizes that there's something fishy going on. Led by her friends to a company that erases minds called Lacuna (Brilliant, isn't it), used primarily for bad relationships. Joel decides to have the same done, but begins second guessung himself as they start the procedure. And that's only the beginning. We then go inside Joel's mind, where a conscious version of himself desperately tries two things to keep them from erasing Clementine forever: 1. Wake himself up or 2. Hide her in memories that they'd never think to look in. *BREATH* Isn't that positively labyrinthine? And as that story continues and we learn more about Joel's early life, we learn that the relationships at Lacuna are just as messed up as the people that they treat. This is definitely one of my favorite films, and would reccomend it to anyone who is a teenager. Personally, I think that Common Sense overreacted with the whole 17+ thing for there was some suggestive material (brief drug use, sexual content without nudity) but it was nothing that I hadn't been exposed to before nor do I think that many teens haven't. So run, don't walk, to see "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," you definitely won't be sorry.
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AGE
An excellent film that should have been nominated for more than what it was
I think it was only nominated for like two awards (my memory is hazy from that Academy Awards celebration). But obvisouly, I just watched it for the reason that I had to wait a bit before seeing the movie. But I didn't really think there was that much wrong with it (it was certainly better content-wise than "Crash"), but really the most apparent concerns are the language and sexual situations. Other than that, this is a brilliant movie that is quite fun and original.
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AGE
eternal sunshine of absolutly no mind
this movie sucked. It has no music through the entire thing. Anybody could watch it! just don't.
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April 9, 2008
AGE
An intriguing film that keeps the mind guessing...
This movie was amazing! I enjoy that in order to completely understand, you must indulge yourself in the entire movie. You don't figure out the end, until the end, unpredictable movies are great! Probably not suitable for all ages but 16+.
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| Studio: | Focus Features |
| Director: | Michel Gondry |
| Cast: | Elijah Wood, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 110 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 12, 2004 |
| DVD release date: | September 27, 2004 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language, some drug and sexual content |
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