Self-conscious and stylistic, yet engaging, funny and fresh

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2010)

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an unashamed romantic, yet feels unfulfilled churning out simple sentiments as a writer for a greeting card firm. One day, new co-worker Summer (Zooey Deschanel) overhears him listening to The Smiths, a band whom they share a passion for. Summer likes Tom. Tom loves Summer. Summer will never love Tom.
What makes this tale of unrequited love so interesting is its telling. The five hundred days of the title refer to the time-span of Tom's feelings for Summer, beginning before and continuing after their affair. The screenplay hops back and forth between various 'days', creating a clever little puzzle of the build-up and breakdown of a relationship. On 'Day 282', for example, Tom refers to a cutesy in-joke he shared with Summer at the height of their romance; she responds impassively. The scene promptly jumps back to 'Day 34' and the birth of this joke, a moment as intimate as they'd ever share. It's an interesting structural ploy, and the various contrasts and ambiguities it brings to the fore reflect Tom's post-break-up obsessive poring over his days with Summer.
Director Marc Webb does a fine job of keeping such an erratic structure feeling smooth, adeptly conveying exhilaration and heartache, often within a single scene. His credentials as a former music video director are evident; the film is stylistic, if not quite stylish, as Webb employs a plethora of slick visual tricks to convey the headiness and confusion of romance.
Gordon-Levitt adds a more lightweight lead to his roster of rogues. Tom is likable, if not charismatic; injured, rather than damaged. Like the film, his performance is well-pitched and endearing, but in no danger of topping his staggering work in Brick and Mysterious Skin. He invests Tom with just the right amount of vulnerability; his very slight awkwardness leavens rather than encumbers the screenplay's deconstruction of neurosis. He makes for a refreshingly believable romantic lead in the nerdy wish-fulfilment era of Cera.
Deschanel is similarly well-cast. She surveys everything with a detached demeanour that is at odds with her big bright eyes. The blending of her lovely features with her disaffected drawl is a potent mix, and makes Summer a devastating force for the men around her. Inverting her typecast role, it's nice to see Deschanel offering us a glimpse of the void beneath the (vaguely irritating) quirky surface.
While the synopsis might suggest an anti-romance movie- the film itself opens with such a claim- the bitterness, like the titular time-span, is bracketed. The film is ultimately hopeful, always entertaining and frequently funny.
But like every melancholic Smiths fan, one can't help but feel the urge to take it down a peg or two. The intermittent use of an unnamed narrator is jarring and superfluous, while the indie soundtrack is relentless, pervading almost every scene. 'Just because someone shares your interests, doesn't make them your soul-mate', Tom's wise-beyond-her-years younger sister intones (a cloying cliché of a character, admittedly, but her scenes make for some of the film's funniest moments). The filmmakers should take this advice, and resist the need to define their film and connect with their audience with the aid of a mix-tape.
Aside from these criticisms, the movie hits all the right notes- and what higher praise could be given of a romantic-comedy, the genre of comfort? It evokes effectively the turbulence of love through an engaging structure, and is anchored by another fine performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt.