I didn’t even remember that Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood were also in this movie until I saw it again. But that’s not anyone remembers anyway. They remember the orange sweatshirt and that hair colour changing from orange to blue. What’s the shade she mentions in the train scene again? I wanted to see someone suffer, to be honest. And Jim Carrey is one of my favourite actors really, so he was the one I chose. I hadn’t seen it in a long long time so it was time to revisit it with fresh mean eyes. I don’t know why but a lot of film endings have been disappointing me recently. I can’t quite put a finger on what is it exactly. They have not been what I’ve wanted them to be. Some are maybe incomplete story arcs like Infinity War, those really piss me off. There are not supposed to be cliffhangers in a theatrical presentation. It’s not a weekly fucking soap opera. I strongly feel that movies need to have the balls to end a thought, have clarity about the destinies of its characters as a film ends even if you may go on to tell more stories in sequels but end one adventure with a satisfactory resolution. Emotional catharsis is what we look for when we invest two hours in a feature presentation, not two fucking post-credit scenes to advertise come back after a year or two to know what really happened or how it really ends. I can understand that it’s probably not a popular opinion but I don’t give a fuck. Not tonight at least.

Joel is shy, awkward and closed out. Clementine being the eccentric, impulsive orange-haired girl chooses a man like Joel because she likes the fact that he doesn’t approach her. That’s sweet and happens more often than many films like to depict. The atmosphere is cold as fuck. There is snow everywhere and people wear layers upon layers of grey overcoats which one would never consider as a setting for a romantic movie. But this is about a concept which is ‘Would you go about getting the memories of a failed relationship erased simply if you could?’ It’s a good idea which is well executed in terms of exposition by actually showing details about characters in non-linear memories. I believe most people with failed relationships would have wanted that at some point. Only if I could get back to a time when I didn’t know that person at all. Or the second best thing would be to erase them from your memory in a way that’s complete and that would help you move on in life. Of course, an impulsive girl like Clementine would go for it the instant it crosses her mind. And Of course, someone introspective and thoughtful like Joel would have second thoughts midway and would try his best to hide her in parts of his brain that no one else can access.

What does bother me at the end is that they go back in the real world as if it was a memory by taking the same shots as the beginning of the film where Joel skips his usual train to work and makes an impulsive decision to take a train to someplace new. They meet in the same way and this time they hear the worst comments about each other through tapes they recorded when they chose to undertake the procedure to get the memories erased. And still, despite knowing the eventual outcome where Joel will get bored of the sex and Clementine will start to hate herself for becoming boring chose to say “Okay” to all that. That’s the rubbish romanticism that most people relate to. I mentioned in the title “In a Bad Mood”. What would’ve been a more believable scenario is if Joel chose to go meet the erased Clementine and thank her for the memories despite the fact that it didn’t work out. Because to be honest they weren’t really good for each other if you think about it. They didn’t really respect each other based on the tapes. Romantic love can never work without respect. It’s hopeful ignorant fantasy that we wish we could live but none of us ever do successfully and for long enough to have happy memories.

Recommended track: Everybody’s got to learn sometime.