When the shy “Joel” (Jim Carrey) encounters the blue-haired “Clementine” (Kate Winslet) he immediately falls for her and embarks on a life-changing romance. Thing is, I think she finds him just a bit too dull and so makes arrangements to have him erased from her memory! Whilst he is going through her stuff he discovers a card that declares she’s had him wiped. Despondent, he goes to see the same doctor (Tom Wilkinson) and opts for the same procedure. He has to garner together all their memorabilia so they can map his brain then “Stan” (Mark Ruffalo) and his sidekick “Patrick” (Elijah Wood) can come in while he’s asleep and do some cerebral zapping. Thing is, though, it seems that this couple have put in a few safeguards in the form of hidden memories and that leads to both of them having a series of entertaining escapades as they try to stay one step ahead of the eradication process whilst also trying to remember or decide whether they like each other or want to be together at all! It’s this cat and mouse process that makes both realise what life might be like without the other! There’s a twist, too, though. The drippy “Patrick” has also taken a bit of a shine to her and so has been using the memories of ‘Joel” to muddy the waters of her affections. Meantime, there is the doctor’s secretary “Mary” (Kirsten Dunst) whom we also realise has skin in this rather complex game of truth or dare (to tell the truth)… I was never really a fan of Carrey but he’s on good form here, gelling well with Winslet in this quirky story of loneliness and reticence that allows each of the characters to have their moment in the sun. This is a creatively constructed drama that mixes chronologies and timelines to keep us guessing as to what’s real, what’s imaginary and what’s just wishful thinking as we see their relationship play out through multiple, rapidly evaporating, scenarios. Carrey’s portrayal juggles well the frustrated with the entangled and it does all make you wonder if it might ever be better to be able to compartmentalise our thoughts and reminiscences and then conveniently hit delete - either arbitrarily or together.
