Joel (Jim Carrey)’s Timeline and Summary
- Joel goes to a beach party and meets Clem. They hit it off, even though he's scared.
- Joel and Clem start to date. They have happy times, like when they're lying on the ice or hiking through the woods; they also have unhappy times, like when they argue about having kids.
- Eventually, Joel and Clem get in a big argument, and Joel buys Clem an early Valentine's Day present to make up for some nasty things he said.
- But Clem doesn't recognize Joel, and after going to Rob and Carrie, Joel finds out that Clem's had him erased from her memory.
- Distraught, Joel decides to do the same. He goes to Lacuna to have his memories of Clem erased.
- Joel starts on a journey backward in time, as all his Clem memories (or clemories—trademark Shmoop) are erased.
- After getting past all the bad memories, Joel makes it to the happy ones and decides to try and stop the procedure in order to retain his memory.
- Joel tries hiding in memories unrelated to Clem, eventually delving into repressed memories—but there's just no stopping the erasure.
- In the end, Joel just up and decides to enjoy his last few moments in his first happy memory with Clem.
- Then Joel wakes up, completely unaware of what has happened. He decides to take a train to Montauk.
- While in Montauk, Joel sees Clem, and the two start to talk.
- Joel ends up driving Clem home, going inside, and eventually reliving their date on the frozen Charles River.
- On the way back to Joel's house, Clem plays her Lacuna tape, on which she says some mean things about him. He is upset and kicks her out.
- But when Joel gets home, he finds he made a similar tape of Clem, and when she comes over, they decide to try a relationship for a second time, even if it is doomed to fail.