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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 April 2004

            “How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!

            The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

            Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

            Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.”

               - Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744)

Walking alone the coastline on a chilly February morning, Joel Barish’s (Carrey) eyes are drawn by an orange shape in the distance.  Moving closer, he passes a cute young girl (Winslet) with blue hair wearing a bright tangerine jacket.  They meet again on the train ride home and she boldly introduces herself as Clementine.  That very night, the two share an intimate evening picnic on an ice covered lake before returning home at dawn in each other’s arms.  When you first fall in love, everything is perfect until the day…

…you want to forget you ever met.  Their relationship has soured and the last time they spoke, Clementine stormed out following an accusation of infidelity.  Several days have passed, and Joel goes looking for Clementine with a fleeting thought of reconciliation.  He finds her but Clementine has no memory of Joel.  She underwent an experimental medical technique for the “focused erasure of troubled memories” and now has no recollection whatsoever of their time together.

In an emotive haze of rashness, Joel decides to square the ledger by undergoing the same procedure.  He meets with Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Wilkinson) and is introduced to his team – Stan (Ruffalo), Patrick (Wood) and Mary (Dunst).  Under a strong anaesthetic, the operation begins encouragingly with the later memories of the relationship wiped away.  But as the brighter, earlier memories come back, Jim realises he doesn’t want to forget Clementine.  In an unconscious state, his only chance is to let his mind fight back against a machine determined to erase it.

Would writer Charlie Kaufman please stand up and take a bow.  He’s the best writer in the business today!  In 1999, he wrote the insanely original Being John Malkovich which told the story of a quirky officer worker who found a portal behind a filing cabinet which took you inside the mind of John Malkovich.  It was my favourite film of that year.  Two years ago, he crafted the Academy Award winning Adaptation which blurred truth and fiction like never as he himself (played by Nicolas Cage) struggled to adapt a boring novel about orchards.  My simple descriptions of these films doesn’t even scratch the surface.  There’s no way to sum up Kaufman’s deeply intricate screenplays in a single sentence.  Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is no exception.

Perfectly complimenting Kaufman’s script is the direction of Michael Gondry.  Gondry is as original as a director as Kaufman is a writer.  It was Gondry who invented the film technique allowing several cameras to take pictures at the same time around somebody (as used in The Matrix).  He began his career making music videos and television commercials but his work here will see him feature a lot more on the big screen.  Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is one optical illusion after the other as Gondry uses seamless special effects to lure the audience into an unthinkable world.  I also liked his timing of the opening credits.  Not to be overlooked are the spot-on performances of Kate Winslet and an unusually serious Jim Carrey.

What an amazing film.  Once you’ve seen it, there’s no way you’ll forget it.  Unless of course you pay a visit to Dr. Howard Mierzwiak…

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 April 2004

They’ve become a comedy duo in recent years.  Can you name the films in which Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have appeared together?  Zoolander will first come to mind but other films include The Royal Tenenbaums, Meet The Parents and even, The Cable Guy.

Cinematic remakes of popular television shows are commonplace today and I feel a natural reluctance towards them.  Why do we need to make them?  Are we trying to relive our past?  Can’t we just rent some old Starsky & Hutch episodes on dvd or something?  Wouldn’t the $60m budget be better spent on about 10 other smaller films with better scripts and more original ideas?

I’ll spare you from my continuing tirade and report the good news on the Starsky & Hutch remake – it’s worth seeing!  Not really for the screenplay but for the comedy stylings of Stiller and Wilson (not forgetting co-star Vince Vaughn who I’m more use to seeing in dramatic films).  As Zoolander showed, they work very well along side each other.

In this film, David Starsky (Stiller) and Ken Hutchinson (Wilson) are partnered together by the chief of police.  Starsky’s the straight shooting officer who does everything by the book and Hutchinson’s the guy who didn’t even read the book.  They may be the odd couple but the chief is fed up with both of them and sees their pairing as punishment for both.

When a dead body washes up on shore, it marks the beginning of a large investigation.  They receive word that a large drug deal is to go down in the coming weeks and they want to make sure they’re the heroes who save the day.  The lead suspect is Reese Feldman (Vaughn) but they just can’t find enough evidence to pin it on him.  Mistakenly they ambush his house (in a very funny scene) and Starsky and Hutch are promptly kicked off the force.  It’s not going to stop them going after Feldman though and the action packed climax has it all (including a cameo or two).

An ideal release for the Easter holidays, Starsky & Hutch is light hearted entertainment.  An ideal popcorn and coke movie.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 April 2004

I've been known to pick the twist in a thriller pretty early on in the film.  But never before can I claim to have picked the twist from the trailer.  Until now.

Taking Lives is a feeble attempt at a motion picture.  It doesn’t even try to keep its secrets hidden.  The serial killer plot appears to have been wrapped up after about an hour.  Does the director seriously think we’re all sitting in our seats going “well that’s over, let’s get out of here”?  You only have to look at your watch to know there’s a lot more to go.  In other words, the person who they thought was the killer, was not the killer.

I haven’t identified any names just in case you do want to see this film.  It all centres on a body being found at a construction sight.  Specially called by the police is an FBI agent named Illeana (Jolie) who immediately goes to the crime scene and miraculously puts together a perfect profile.  Within 24 hours, there’s a similar murder only this time there was a witness – a guy known as Costa (Hawke).

He provides a composite sketch and now they have a suspect.  Illeana’s “psychic” abilities enable her to pinpoint what this suspect has been doing.  For over 20 years, he has been killing people and assuming their identities.  If this sounds familiar, you should rent the Talented Mr. Ripley on video.  If you’ve already seen it, you need to see it again.  It’s a wonderful film and puts Taking Lives to shame.

There’s an ending to this mayhem which is dumb and stupid.  Again, I won’t go into details.  Not because I don’t want to spoil it, but rather because I couldn’t be stuffed wasting the effort.  These serial killer flicks are all the same.  What is our fascination with them?  There aren’t that many you know.

The performances don’t warrant a mention either.  Angelina Jolie now finds her career in a definite rut and she clearly needs guidance to choose better roles.  Viewers need to be wary of a few gruesome scenes but frankly, viewers need to be wary of the whole production.  The only lives that needed taking were those of the film’s creators.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 April 2004

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl rocketed Johnny Depp into the spotlight and there are a lot of new fans who will be checking out his latest, Secret Window.  It’s a film which is typical of Depp – unconventional.  The trailers give it the appearance of a run-of-the-mill thriller but Secret Window does surprise.

What struck me most was its simplicity.  There are so many scenes in which we having Johnny Depp on screen in his log cabin and nothing else.  Boring it is not but rather, intriguing.  Depp plays writer Mort Rainey who recently separated from his wife Amy (Bello).  Working on his latest book, Rainey has retreated to an isolated cabin to clear his mind and put thoughts into words.

Knocking at his door one morning is a creepy man who identifies himself as John Shooter (Turturro).  Shooter accuses Rainey of stealing a story he once wrote called Secret Window.  Shooter says he wrote the story back in 1997 and produces a copy of his script to prove it.  Defending himself, Rainey claims he wrote the story back in 1995 where it was published in a magazine.  Shooter tells Rainey that he has 3 days to produce this magazine or else trouble will befall him...

I did enjoy the way writer/director David Koepp built the tension but was not fully satisfied about the ending.  A scruffy looking Johnny Depp gives a very good performance and I particularly enjoyed the little mannerisms he gave to his character.  It seems he’s always moving his neck, back and arms around. 

Secret Window is worth a trip to the cinema but if you want to see something even better on video, check out director David Koepp’s 1996 thriller, The Trigger Effect, with Elizabeth Shue and Kyle MacLachlan.  It wasn’t liked my many but I found it very interesting.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 April 2004

It’s my favourite film title of the year – Dirty Pretty Things.  It creates curiosity and a desire to know exactly what is both dirty and pretty.  You find out in the earlier stages of this film which is well directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) and craftily written by Stephen Knight, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his work.

Okwe (Ejiofor) is a Nigerian native trying to elude immigration officers in London.  He never sleeps, works numerous jobs and is looking to build a new life.  By night, Okwe works at the front desk of a posh hotel.  Trying to keep a low profile, the sly Okwe has been living at the apartment of one of the hotel’s maids, Senay (Tautou), who is also looking to avoid the authorities.

At work one evening, Okwe is asked to investigate a problem in Room 510.  The toilet is overflowing but it isn’t a run-of-the-mill incident.  The clog is being caused by a human heart.  Exactly how did a human heart end up in a hotel toilet?  There’s no sign of any other trouble in the room and so Okwe goes to hotel manager, Juan (Lopez), who thinks little of it.  Okwe finds himself is a difficult situation – he knows he needs to call the police but as an illegal immigrant, he’s putting his own head in a noose.  Is there a better way to resolve this situation?  Indeed there is.

Frears has assembled a strong cast to back the worthy screenplay.  I had never heard of Chiwetel Ejiofor before but I now know him as an English actor on the rise.  He works wonderfully with French actress Audrey Tautou who many will remember from the popular foreign comedy Amelie.

It’s a very interesting story filled with memorable characters with an ending sure to please.  It’s a gritty look into a world I know very little of and it brings to light many attention-grabbing issues.  Like any good thriller, you never know what’s going to happen next.  In a week when Harry Potter is dominating the Australian box-office and causing lengthy queues, here is an ideal alternative.