I am outraged by the lack of attention that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has received during awards season. Do you think if it had
been released later in the year, it would be garnering more Oscar buzz? — Pete
It couldn't have hurt. Eternal Sunshine has, of course, received a
handful of awards and nominations, but there's a general perception in
Hollywood that its early-in-the-year release date (March 19) didn't do
it any favors. Had the film swapped calendar dates with, say, Finding
Neverland (Nov. 12), it would now be a lot easier to imagine Jim Carrey
looking at a Best Actor nomination instead of Johnny Depp. Given the
extraordinary acclaim that has been lavished on Eternal Sunshine, it was all but inevitable that the movie would be viewed as a test case — by its
studio, Focus Features, and by the rest of the industry — for the question of how an early release date ends up influencing a film's awards
chances. The old conventional wisdom was, Hey, it didn't work against
The Silence of the Lambs (Feb. 14) or Seabiscuit (July 25). The new wisdom: Remember Eternal Sunshine.
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