500 stars!

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 2009)

OPENING NARRATION: This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met The One. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total misreading of the movie 'The Graduate.' The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only loved two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.
But this review is. I am in love with this film.
I have been in love with it ever since seeing the trailer a few months ago. Watching a workprint of the film tonight not only did not dampen my ardor, it deepened it. And this is not an adolescent-crush-love-is-blind love on my part. I have my reasons for it.
First, there is Zooey Deschanel.
Second, how can you not love a film that starts with the following lines printed on screen before the credits?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Especially you Jenny Beckman.
Bitch.
Third, there is Zooey Deschanel.
In one pithy phrase, "(500) Days Of Summer" is easily the best romantic comedy in years. The writing is fabulous, containing more funny lines per minute than any film of this type I can think of since "When Harry Met Sally."
And there is Zooey Deschanel. A star is born.
Not that Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn't great. He follows up his excellent work in "The Lookout" and "Killshot" and other films with a film that will probably jumpstart his career as well. But hey! I'm a guy, and Zooey stole my heart just as effectively as she steals his.
Besides, it's a story told out of order, which I love. (500) Days Of Summer is exactly what the title implies it is, a tale composed of vignettes from the 500 days of an unforgettable love affair. But one of the things that makes this unforgettable love affair memorable is that these vignettes are presented not in sequence, as they happened, but in the order they need to be in to tell the story properly.
If the scale went up that far, I would give it 500 stars.