Style without substance

Last weekend, Zack and I hopped on BART to Embarcadero and caught a screening of Michel Gondry's latest, "The Science of Sleep". Inevitably, this movie has been compared to Gondry's last effort, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I consider to be a postmodern masterpiece, a meditation on love, memory and relationships. Without Charlie Kaufman penning the script, Gondry's work becomes even more nonlinear and fragmented. Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourgh are beguiling as Stephane and Stephanie, neighbors who meet cute and are obviously meant for each other. But charm and good acting is not enough to flesh out a wisp of a script. I enjoyed Gondry's stylistic flourishes - it's refreshing now, to see special effects that are not CGI derived, and it's hard not to be charmed by Gondry's enthusiasm for filmmaking. He brings a certain joie de vivre that I find invigorating on screen, even without Kaufman. I think it's a little unfair to compare the two movies, so I wasn't expecting the same sort of experience as Eternal Sunshine. That being said, I enjoyed the movie. It wasn't brilliant and it didn't sear my emotions, but I appreciated it.