Head to Head – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Welcome to the latest edition of Head to Head, in which our Quickflix critic takes on our readers in a rip-snorting battle to the death! You pick the film, and we pick the fight!

This week, Nathan Mifsud wished he could forget Michel Gondry‘s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. For his troubles, he received a free pass to see Animal Kingdom. You can send your mini-reviews to us here at Quickflix too!

Nathan Mifsudwill argue AGAINST the film while Quickflix critic Simon Miraudo will argue FOR it. Let us know in the comments section below who you agree with. Spare no vitriol! Choose your side! There can only be one winner!

Nathan Mifsud – 0.5/5

When I first heard about how great and how influential and how just overall fantastic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was, I had to go see it. What crap! Absolute crap! Not only was it one of Jim Carrey’s worst performances, but the overall plot and dialogue of the film is just drivel. The plot is too complicated, and it requires you to remember things! I don’t want to remember things. I’m at the movies! I WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED! The director obviously didn’t care about the film or its quality, as he let this indie trash enter the cinemas, and the director previously directed music videos. MUSIC VIDEOS! No wonder it was so dodgy. There is nothing to like! It’s so bad, that I can’t even put it in a genre. Is it romance? Is it sci-fi? Is it in fact a comedy? I cannot express how much I hate this. I am willing to go as far and say (sorry everyone) Norbit was better (I think I’m going to throw up)! I am surprised about the amount of people who liked this film and honestly, I want this film erased from my memory!

Simon Miraudo – 5/5

I genuinely, genuinely, cannot tell whether or not this week’s entry was cheekily formulated to generate controversy Armond White-style. “The plot is too complicated … it requires you to remember things”. I’m going to act as if Nathan is being 100% serious here and say – are you kidding me?! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is easily one of the great films of the 21st century (if not of all time). In fact, it’s perhaps the most significant film of the 21st century – at least so far. It’s the only film I can think of that so effortlessly discusses everything significant about life (love, death, guilt, consciousness, friendship, loneliness etc.) in a fresh context. I find myself going all the way back to Annie Hall, Vertigo, The Apartment and even City Lights for adequate comparisons. It’s brave, fascinating, brutally truthful and all-too-human. Yes Nathan, it is a romance AND a sci-fi AND a comedy AND a drama AND an adventure film AND may as well be a documentary on break-ups (or as Guy Maddin would say, a “docufantasia”). Director Michel Gondry (a music video director, but so were David Fincher and Spike Jonze) brings his almost unfathomable inventiveness and unhinged imagination; Charlie Kaufman’s brilliantly tangled script is brimming with pathos and true emotional honesty; Carrey and Winslet give the best performances of their career as the doomed lovers, and give us one of the most relatable film couple in history. I argue that the plot isn’t complicated at all – it simply requires attention. And if you aren’t willing to give a film your complete and utter concentration, then you didn’t deserve to see it in the first place. I recommend you give ESOTSM another chance Nathan, and perhaps this wonderful tale will finally permeate your soul. I only wish you could experience the same feelings as I do when I watch it. Eternal Sunshine is a masterpiece; a film that comes along but once in a lifetime.

Oh, and the Norbit comparison was a low blow.

Now it’s over to you! What are your thoughts on Magnolia? Let us know in the comments section below. If you would like to be featured in the next Head to Head and possibly win some free movie tickets, send your mini-reviews to us here at Quickflix!