Every once in a while, a film comes along which reminds us that originality, verve and invention are not completely dead in Hollywood.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is a breath-taking and stunningly unique romantic comedy, borne of the twisted imagination of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation). Like his previous films, this is a surreal yet ultimately uplifting portrait of the human condition.

Meek, mild-mannered office worker Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) has never recovered from the end of his romance with eccentric bookshop worker Clementine (Kate Winslet).

He has almost lost the will to go on and in desperation, Joel turns to revered medic, Dr Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), who has pioneered a non-invasive, memory erasure operation. Joel hopes that by deleting all reminisces of Clementine, he will be able to rise above his crippling depression and start anew.

However, no sooner has he been put under anaesthetic by technicians Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Elijah Wood) than Joel realises he doesn't want to erase his past with Clementine at all.

Trapped inside his fractured maze of memories, Joel attempts to escape the procedure and cling onto what little remains of Clementine in his subconscious.

Director Michel Gondry, who is renowned for his ground-breaking music videos, pushes the medium to its limits. It seems as if we and Joel will go mad trying to make sense of it all.

Carrey delivers a richly compelling performance as the hapless hero who realises too late that the pain of losing Clementine is what makes him human.

Winslet is wonderfully sparky and spirited, and she generates a palpable screen chemistry with Carrey in their scenes together.

It's a rush of blood to the head you won't forget in a hurry.

RUTH MARSH