One of my favorite recent movies.

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 2010)

"You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me."
I find myself having to revisit my original review and bump the score up, because this movie gets better every single time I see it.
(500) Days of Summer is very unconventional, but in this case, unconventional is a welcome change. The whole relationship genre seems to suffer from being too dour (Two Lovers), too formulaic (a bazillion movies starring Katherine Heigl and her kind), or simply too saccharine for anyone with a Y-chromosome. Just for avoiding those pits, (500) Days of Summer deserves some kind of special award at the Oscars.
Zooey Deschanel is great, of course. This role is similar to those she's had in movies and shows like Gigantic and Weeds, but that's just because she's so believable as this kind of character. Joseph isn't really stretching outside his comfort range, either, but once you've seen this, you won't be able to imagine anyone else in his place.
The movie itself is a mixture of unnervingly genuine moments and fanciful flourishes. The narrator (don't you love narrators in movies?) tells you what you're in for within the first five minutes of the movie, and you'd be wise to believe him. It's not that you're not going to get a happy ending, it's just that this movie is similar to life; the happy ending you get may not be the one you were looking for.