500 Days of Summer

A light and realistic approach to an unhealthy relationship between two young people, each with their own frustrations, expectations and difficulties in communicating honestly with their partner.

Don't expect much comedy, nor much romance or wise messages, which, apart from the narrator, seem to be exclusive to women in this film. Even an 11-year-old girl is smarter than any man, which seems to be forced for comedy purposes.

Still, there is a very good message that the film addresses more than once: the importance of being honest with others and with ourselves.

Overall, it is a very enjoyable film to watch, with great music, innovative back-and-forth directing and nice colours / photography.

Who is Mark Webb? Anyone? Anyone? It is an astonishing piece of work for a first time feature film director. He counts with a beautifully crafted screenplay and two sensational leading performances and that's where the success of this comedy resides. Jodseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are two startling originals with a winning screen presence and a brain, yes, a brain. I was involved in their peculiar relationship because there isn't a hint of shallowness in their back and fourth. I believe it, completely, and when you sit in the dark and believe what you see on the screen, things are going to happen to you the way that happened to me. It is again a confirmation that treating your audience with respect will pay off somewhere along the line. I love Zooey Deschanel, she reminds me of some my favorites of the past without looking or sounding like anybody else. And Joseph Gordon Levitt, well, this young man is something else. He projects a humanity that doesn't need to be embellished. It's just there for us to dive into. Marvelous actor, marvelous performance, marvelous film. I'm so thrilled to be able to say that.

I haven't seen a romance this touching since I was the same type of single sad sack as depicted by the hero of (500) Days of Summer.

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has his radar up for "the girl of his dreams" when he meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Too bad for Tom Summer is stuck on friends-with-benefits mode. Let the tension begin.

Director Marc Webb captures the feeling of innocent, naïve love expertly. Anyone who has taken the lyrics of the Smiths too closely to heart, would be moved by the idea of the person they are crushing on sing to them: "To die by your side/is such a heavenly way to die." No wonder Tom soon falls head over heels for this girl.

As events unfold out of sequence, you know all along Tom has fallen for a time bomb of a woman, and he can't even see the countdown. When that bomb finally blows up in his face, it unfolds with powerful simplicity-- no exposition or dialog, just two juxtaposed events that capture the heartache of reality hitting a person who sees a person through the filter of deep-seated emotions that were planted at too young an age.

So many romantic films nowadays concern themselves with cute ideas; take 'He's Just Not That Into You' or 'Serendipity' for example. Even movies like 'Knocked Up' where a pot-smoking, video-gaming, narcissistic slob tries to turn his life around to try to be a father feels more contrived than real. These movies forget about human feelings.

Who cares about stock or cartoonish characters in love. The couple in (500) Days of Summer have true chemistry. There are some beautiful, subtle moments of tenderness as well as some heart- rending moments of disconnectedness between the two that never comes across as heavy-handed. The movie constantly reminds you that these are two different people with different ideas of a relationship, yet they stubbornly continue dating, and they remain lovable all the same.

An omniscient narrator sets the film up early on by noting "this is not a love story." And, in a way, it isn't. It's a story about feelings. It just so happens (500) Days of Summer captures the sensation of falling in love better than most movies.

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Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is always looking for the one. Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) doesn't believe in love since her parents' divorce. The narration explains that "This is not a love story". The movie moves in a non-linear timeline. His sister Rachel (Chloë Grace Moretz), McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend), and Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler) are his friends. Summer is the new assistant to his boss Vance (Clark Gregg) in his greeting card workplace and he falls head over heals.

Zooey is the 'It' girl and JGL is playing the adorable leading man. Zooey is a great fantasy girlfriend. They make a fine rom-com couple or in this case, the anti-rom-com couple. The non-linear structure and the serious narration give it a fantasy feel. It's offbeat in tone and in structure. It's not dripping in realism but it is loads of fun. Music video director Marc Webb brings a different sensibility to this traditional genre.

Wonderful movie. From the trailer it may appear like your typical boringly predictable romantic comedy, but in reality is a great comedy-drama, with great meaning and relevance, and an amazing twist.

Clever plot - not at all predictable, and very original. Direction is equally innovative, switching between different periods of time deftly, seamlessly and to the betterment of the movie.

The choice of lead actors was inspired. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are superb in the lead roles. The chemistry is spot-on, and both are suitably quirky and non-mainstream, avoiding it becoming a common-or-garden shmaltzy romance.

Topping it all off is a superb soundtrack. The music, excellent in isolation, is integrated perfectly into the movie, and is not overdone.

A must-see.