Boy Meets Girl, you get the picture.

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2009)

When I first saw the trailer for 500 Days of Summer, I could not wait to see it. It seemed like a unique, refreshingly real film; something new to offer to the romantic comedy genre, which has gone WAY downhill in the last 20-30 years. I feel like our expectations of what a really good movie should entail have also gone down, probably because there's so much rubbish out there, that even a film that is slightly creative (such as this), will get more merit than it truly deserves (that's my opinion). I have read several positive reviews of 500 Days of Summer, from different sites; most reviews agree that the directing, sequence of events, plot, etc., are original (especially the non-conventional love story) and that the cast is talented. Some more critical reviews mention that the film is not nearly as unique and original as it is made out to be, that the story is, in fact, predictable; something it sets out NOT to do.
500 Days of Summer takes you on a ride through the main character, Tom's, memory..err, fragments of memory, of his relationship with Summer. He falls in love with her, she does not want a serious relationship from the start, he is more serious about the relationship, she dumps him. He falls into a temporary post-breakup depression, he tries to see what went wrong. He learns that love and relationships are not guided by fate and happily-ever-after, and then he meets "the one," who, surprise-surprise, is named after a different season. What I don't get, is how the relationship, so superficial, come to think of it, even lasted as long as it did. I guess 500 Days of Summer just sounds better than the more realistic, 90 Days of Summer. Anyway, this summary seems like it does not even scratch the surface, but believe me, it does more than just that; it's the film in a nutshell. Pepper it with some French film noir-type things (original, huh), some British pop/rock music, The Smiths, The Clash.., some hipster type clothing, a couple of karaoke scenes, a nice park atop a hill (which cannot be so beautiful in reality), and you've got 500 Days of Summer. It is not nearly as original as an independent or many foreign films; it simply lacks depth and creativity. Granted, there are some wonderful moments of...originality. Unfortunately, it seems to be overshadowed by the cliché. It was refreshing to actually be able to relate to the main character, Tom, but I feel like the film could have been delivered differently. I was entertained, but was not as enmeshed with the story/characters as I would have expected, and liked. Gordon-Levitt's performance is impeccable, however. He delivers- it is almost as though the entire film was based on his own personal experiences; he makes it so believable. He is one very talented actor (no prodigy or method actor like DeNiro or Nicholson, but he isn't really meant to be either). He is a very talented young actor, nonetheless, and I feel like this film will propel his career and allow him to develop his talent as an actor.
As for the film as a whole, however, I am critical for a reason. Watch it for yourself, if you haven't. At the very least, you will be entertained. I enjoyed this movie, but found myself bored with it too. I feel like the director tried to hard to prove how different this movie is- how fresh, unique, and upbeat it is, that he perhaps overdid it. I feel like directors should just do whatever feels right, without much regard to how it may be perceived. True art, in my opinion, only comes from thinking outside the box, and staying true to one's passion/creativity. Although 500 Days of Summer pushes the envelope a little, it isn't enough for it to be entirely different. Not a horrible film, but in my opinion, nothing special either.