Most of the film is set within the mind of the protagonist, played by Jim Carrey, on the night the erasing takes place. It is sort of a film length version of the scene set inside Malkovich´s head in Being John Malkovich, in the same way that Brave New World was a page in Huxley´s first novel, Chrome Yellow.
It´s all well and good, but it takes a long time getting there. We´re used to Kaufman by now having twists at every turn, but when the payoff comes here, it is impressive. The couple get together again, not knowing that they have been together before. An anonymous tape reveals their former relationship together, and their confessions why they cannot stand one another. The couple is then faced with the prospect of whether they are ready to go through everything again, knowing how it ended before.
The ending of the film is left suitably open, a relief from standard films which usually have the happy couple overcome all difficulties and incompatibilities in character and social standing and ride off into the sunset. Perhaps we are being told too often that love conquers all. Can a relationship that´s already gone to the dogs once really be salvaged? “Friends” seem to think so. But then, they were never all that applicable to the real world.
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