Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Writer Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation and Being John Malkovich) re-teams with director Michel Gondry (Human Nature) for his most imaginative and impressively executed romp through the minefields of male and female relationships. Mild-mannered Joel (Jim Carrey in his most restrained and finely tuned performance) has the memories of his former motormouth girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) erased after discovering that she has already undergone the procedure to extract all traces of their faded romance. Joel has a change of heart during the process and attempts to hide a remaining image of Clementine in past memories that preceded their coupling. This seriocomic story of bruised and confused souls includes fine performances by Mark Ruffalo (who steals every scene in which he appears), Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson as the medical-team members struggling with love problems of their own.