Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry

Box office

Produced on a budget of $20 million, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opened on March 19, 2004, in the United States, earning $8.2 million in its opening weekend from 1,353 theaters. The film placed seventh in the weekend's box office, and remained in theaters for 19 weeks, earning $34.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $39.6 million in international markets, for a total of $74 million worldwide.[47]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating 92% based on 256 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Propelled by Charlie Kaufman's smart, imaginative script and Michel Gondry's equally daring directorial touch, Eternal Sunshine is a twisty yet heartfelt look at relationships and heartache."[48] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 89 out of 100, based on 41 reviews.[49] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[50]

Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times in his initial 2004 review gave the film three and a half out of four.[51] He revisited the film in 2010 when he referred to Kaufman as "the most gifted screenwriter of the 2000s" and revised the rating to a full four out of four, adding it to his "Great Movies" list.[52] A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film for being "cerebral, formally and conceptually complicated, dense with literary allusions and as unabashedly romantic as any movie you'll ever see".[53] Time Out summed up their review by saying, "the formidable Gondry/Kaufman/Carrey/Winslet axis works marvel after marvel in expressing the bewildering beauty and existential horror of being trapped inside one's own addled mind, and in allegorising the self-preserving amnesia of a broken but hopeful heart".[54] In 2017, The New York Times ranked the film as the 24th best film of the 21st Century so far.[55]

Winslet and Carrey received widespread praise for their performances. Winslet's as Clementine received multiple award nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress,[56] a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role[57] and a Golden Globe Award nomination.[58] Premiere magazine placed her performance 81st in their 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.[59] Claudia Puig in a review for USA Today said of her performance "Winslet is wonderful as a free spirit whose hair color changes along with her moods. She hasn't had such a meaty role in a while, and she plays it just right".[60]

Ann Hornaday in a review for The Washington Post said "Even when forced to wear costumes and wigs that make her look like Pippi Longstocking after an acid-fueled trip to the thrift market, Winslet maintains a reassuring equilibrium. It takes an actor of her steadiness to play someone this unhinged."[61]

Carrey's performance as Joel also received multiple award nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role[57] and a Golden Globe Award nomination.[58] Many reviewers noted his casting against type. Jason Killingsworth in a review for Paste magazine said of his performance "Carrey nails the part, winning audience sympathy from the opening moments of the film".[62]

Moira MacDonald in a review for The Seattle Times stated "[Jim Carrey is] not bad at all — in fact, it's the most honest, vulnerable work he's ever done",[63] while David Edelstein of Slate said "It's rarely a compliment when I refer to an actor as "straitjacketed", but the straitjacketing of Jim Carrey is fiercely poignant. You see all that manic comic energy imprisoned in this ordinary man, with the anarchism peeking out and trying to find a way to express itself."[64] The supporting cast also received acclaim, with several reviews, such as Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post and Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail singling out Ruffalo's performance for praise.[61][65]

Critics praised Kaufman and his ambition, and he won numerous awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.[56][66] In Slate, David Edelstein claimed Kaufman had "move[d] the boundary posts of romantic comedy,"[64] and Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times called Kaufman "one of the few creative screenwriters working today."[63] Kaufman's writing also was the recipient of criticism, with some, including from John Powers of the LA Weekly, claiming it lacked passion[67] and Andrew Sarris of Observer criticizing the film's "nonexistent character development."[68]

Gondry, like Kaufman, also received praise, with The Washington Post acclaiming "the results [of Gondry using primarily live-action effects], in their intricate detail and execution" as "nothing short of brilliant".[61] The Seattle Times in their review stated "Gondry ... makes it all a melancholy fun house, with camera work and visual tricks that rival the screenplay in invention".[63] Cinematographer Ellen Kuras received praise for her work on the film, such as in a Salon magazine, where, in an overall negative review, reviewer Stephanie Zacharek praised Kuras for her giving "the movie a look of dreamy urgency that's perfect for the story".[69]

Accolades

Home media

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was released on VHS and DVD by Universal Studios on September 28, 2004,[76][77] with the two-disc Collector's Edition being released on January 4, 2005.[78] It was later released on HD DVD on April 24, 2007,[79] and on Blu-ray on January 25, 2011.[80][81] On July 26, 2022, Kino Lorber Studio Classics released Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray.[82] This release included a new color grading supervised by cinematographer Ellen Kuras.[83]