(500) Days of Summer (2009)

I'm hesitant to put (500) Days of Summer in the category of romantic comedy because it's just not the same fare you typically get out of the genre. Yes, there's comedy. Yes, there's romance. It has its share of silly moments. But it's something loftier and smarter than How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or You've Got Mail.

The film nonlinearly explores greeting-card-writer Tom Hansen's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) love for co-worker Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) over the course of 500 days. The script is by first time screenwriters Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter. Titles pop up to let us know which day we're on and but it's really a tribute to editor Alan Edward Bell, director Marc Webb, and the two leads that the audience never gets left behind. Bell has already won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing and it won't be surprising if he gets an Oscar nomination as well.

Webb and Gordon-Levitt seem to make quite the formidable team as well in Webb's first feature-length film. While Webb has mainly been responsible for a few music videos for 3 Doors Down and Green Day, you may remember Gordon-Levitt as the long-haired kid on the tv show Third Rock from the Sun. He's come a long way, had a fairly consistent amount of work since then, and has no doubt made a successful transition from child to adult actor.

Here Gordon-Levitt is our well-developed driver, taking us on a tour of joy, confusion, and heart-break. Summer knows who she is, or at least claims to, and tells Tom right from the start she's not looking for a boyfriend. He embarks on a relationship with her anyway and the story is still captivating even knowing from the beginning the relationship doesn't have a good chance. This movie isn't conventional so we're allowed to still have some hope.

They even make a dance number and scenes in a karaoke bar charming, fresh, and fitting. Zooey Deschanel seems to be wearing all her own clothing and hair accessories, but it is an indie movie after all so I'm willing to write it off as a money saver.

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for: Anyone who has ever loved anyone to whom they weren't related

Extended Review:
A note about the soundtrack: Give this film's soundtrack a listen. It includes some classics that have made recent appearences elsewhere (Hall & Oates' You Make My Dreams Come True & The Smiths' Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,) some other songs that have been just waiting for a soundtrack inclusion (Regina Spektor's Us and Feist's Mushaboom) and an interesting inclusion (but obviously a shot at romance with French lyrics) of Quelqu'un m'a dit by French first lady, Carla Bruni.