I've seen this movie in the instant queue of Netflix for a while and I finally watched it Sunday night. I love Jim Carrey movies, but this was in the sci-fi/romance genre so I wasn't so sure. It turned out to be a really good movie. It's about a guy named Joel who finds out that his impulsive ex-girlfriend Clementine had him and their relationship erased from her memory. He reacts by also getting his memory erased of her. During the procedure however, he realizes that he doesn't want to follow through the procedure. Most of the movie takes place in Joel's subconscious mind where he tries to resist the operation and get the people operating on him to stop. Backtracking through his memories with her, Joel tries hold on to Clementine by taking her to different memories of his younger life.
It was a very interesting movie not only because of the provoking concept of removing another completely from one's memory, but also because of the personalities of the two main characters Joel and Clementine, which seemed to be polar extremes of one another that somehow clashed well, in a perfect harmony.
I guess this movie was a good one to me because I found myself relating quite a bit to Jim Carrey's character, who is emotionally withdrawn. Two of his quotes really clicked with me:
One was, for him, on the subject of girls (for me, on the subject of guys).
Joel: "[
narration as Clementine acknowledges Joel by raising her coffee mug] Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention?"
The other was about him being so withdrawn.
Clementine: "You don't tell me things, Joel. I'm an open book. I tell you everything, every damn, embarrassing thing.You don't trust me."
Joel: "Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating."
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I've gone to two sessions with counseling so far. At the last session my counselor/therapist suggested that I feel listless and somewhat depressed null because I feel withdrawn in relationships with those I care about most. Especially considering the relationships that have ended more recently, I feel somewhat void of someone to talk to whenever I need them. It makes a lot of sense. I'm glad she could connect the dots for me because it was bothersome not to know why I was feeling so down. So as a remedy I've decided to try going to one of the group meditation sessions on campus. That, or yoga/regular exercise. Something to help clear my mind and let go of the past. I've also recently read a book for Psychology called Understanding Other People by Beverly D.Flaxington. I 'm going to try and use the tips in that book to better communicate with the close friends I have now. Maybe I can make more meaningful relationships out of those. Maybe that'll be the way to help me feel grounded and not so detached from others.
But anyway, back to the movie review!
I give it 3.5/5 stars. Great concept, beautiful presentation, something that I could relate to, but it was sort of confusing and it's a movie I'd only want to watch once. Still, go see it. It's worthwhile!
