Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Paul & Amy can’t forget 2004’s mind-melting romance Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind! They learn why director Michel Gondry asked Jim Carrey not to improvise, watch a deleted scene featuring a character cut from the film, and ask if this couple is really meant to be together. Plus: learn which rap superstar was heavily inspired by the movie!

This is the fifth episode in our Couple Goals series; next week’s film is Love And Basketball! Learn more about the show at unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. You can also listen to our Stitcher Premium game show Screen Test right now at https://www.stitcher.com/show/unspooled-screen-test, and apply to be a contestant at unspooledpod@gmail.com! Photo credit: Kim Troxall

[FictionIsntReal 79]

I'm just not on Gondry's wavelength. I say the spot for high-concept movie goes to Groundhog Day. I would also take Synechdoce or either of Kaufman's films with Jonze over this if we wanted one of his screenplays to go to space.

I think the film would have been better with the deleted scene. It tells us more about Joel's nature before Clementine, indicating how much of their relationship dynamic was specific to her vs a recurring trait of his. It also makes clear that Clementine started out as "the other woman" he was hiding from his then-girlfriend (and lying about).

I can't agree with the optimistic take on the ending that their relationship merely "may not" work out. We know it won't, because we already saw that they're dysfunctional. And since they both erased their memories, they can't learn from their mistakes!

Joel can't be the least interesting person, because I'm the least interesting person. I lead a genuinely pain-free life.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

11 hours ago, FictionIsntReal said:

I can't agree with the optimistic take on the ending that their relationship merely "may not" work out. We know it won't, because we already saw that they're dysfunctional. And since they both erased their memories, they can't learn from their mistakes!

Except they have the tapes, so there is some way of learning from their mistakes. The relationship would have fundamentally started in a different way.