September 2009
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(500) Days of Summer (12a)
Printed 2nd September 2009

First things first, let’s get this straight: “this is not a love story”. This is not a rom-com. This is not a chick flick. This is a story about love. This is a story about real life. This is a story about relationships. This, as a story, is one of the most purely enjoyable, likeable and feel-good films released in the totality of 2009.

Preppy romantic Tom (the greatest unsung actor of his generation™ Joseph Gordon-Levitt – The Lookout / Brick) believes in the notion of true love and is waiting for it to walk into his life. Enter kooky free spirit Summer (the painfully cute-looking and proud owner of the sexiest voice in movies™ Zooey Deschanel – Yes Man / Elf) who doesn’t. Compatible in every other way (they both love The Smiths after all), following a brief bout of will-they-won’t-they flirting, a “casual” relationship ensues. Fun times are had at IKEA and karaoke and public parks. Fast-forward to hundreds of days later and things aren’t so rosy at bars and café’s and public parties.

So goes the story of Tom and his (500) Days of Summer: a non-linear, kaleidoscopic portrait of life, love and the complexities of romance. Told through time jumps, split-screen, a hip-pop soundtrack and creative cinematic vivacious visuals, this is an anatomy of a relationship quite unlike any other and the on-screen realisation/interpretation of our very own occasion (we’ve all had one) of the girl that had her “Summer-effect” upon us.

A charming, winning, spontaneous, unique and very very funny look at the ups and downs of man meets woman, (500) Days manages to perfectly balance the light and fluffy with the serious and sharp to provide one realistic observation of what it means, this crazy thing called love. A superlative cinematic treat from front-to-back, four things particularly make this film as good as it gets:

1) The sharp, smart and imaginatively-structured screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber (begging the question: what the bejesus went on with Pink Panther poo 2).
2) The fresh and inventive direction by former pop supremo Marc Webb (expect much more than Fergie and Pussycat Dolls music vids from him in the future, although his Daniel “Bad Day” Powter is a good indication of what to expect here).
3) The layered, convincing and involving performances from a talented cast, most notably the excelling-again Gordon-Levitt (Deschanel can play this sort of role in her sleep), but also from supporters Geoffrey Arend (Garden State), Clark Gregg (Iron Man) and Chloe Moretz (the upcoming Kick-Ass).
4) The central song-and-dance number that rivals Enchanted for toe-tapping, grin-inducing, sunshine-providing, uplifting enjoyment that just makes you feel warm ‘n’ fuzzy inside.

That said the film can be overly-cutesy and cliché at times, stretching your limit for consumption of slushiness. ‘Course this might just all be part of the masterplan (if the sickly, soppy, sentimental, schmaltzy Eskimo-kissing memories of their happy early days together smacks you as rose-tinted and too-good-to-be-true, then it probably is and you’re just reading it right. This is a film solely from Tom’s – skewed? – perspective after all). The omnipotent narrator that pipes up sporadically will undoubtedly irk some too.

These are, of course, very minor faults and merely poking where doesn’t need poking. Because a film as artistic and truthful and entertaining and enjoyable as (500) Days of Summer comes around far less often than the seasons and when it does it deserves celebrating and promoting and eulogising and rewarding, not nitpicking. So do yourself a favour, see this for yourself and bask in its warm summery glow.

Author’s note: kudos on an awesome Han Solo gag. A small moment that makes a brilliant film shine even brighter.

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