Refreshingly realistic

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2012)

We all know the basic rom-com template: "boy meets girl/boy loses girl/boy wins girl back in improbable finale to live happily ever after". It's been done to death, with the small varieties of the same old formula trotted out every year.
Fortunately '500 Days of Summer' is a giant breath of fresh air. Unlike the clichéd rom-com, it's not afraid to depict a realistic relationship: from the giddy early days, the painful breakup and everything in between, with the gorgeous Zooey Deschanel (Summer) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) as the leads.
'500 Days' depicts Tom and Summer's relationship in a non-liner pattern, with numbered titles indicating the stage of their relationship. Tom is an optimistic believer in true love while Summer thinks relationships are a waste of time. This movie is in parts painful and hopeful. Tom falls madly in love with a woman who seems out his league (at least physically) and slowly cracks begin to appear in their relationship. A great example is comparable visits to a furniture store. In the early days of their relationship, Tom's jokes about all the appliances being broken make Summer laugh. Fast forward to later in the 500-day timeline and those exact same jokes are met with silence.
Tom is the focal point of the movie, and it's easy to sympathise him. Not only does he look like a 'normal' person (as opposed to the usual six foot tall and ridiculously handsome rom-com male lead), but we can see his pain as he starts out believing he's no chance with Summer, to falling in love with her and slowly realising that she doesn't love him in the same way. This is something most 'average' men can relate to: falling for a woman who seems too good for them, only to painfully discover they don't feel the same way, regardless of how much they seem to care.
While the film can be depressing at times (especially when Tom seems to be given a second chance with Summer only to discover she's engaged), it does end on a hopeful note for Tom. The pain he went through with Summer forces him to re-evaluate his life and pursue his true love of architecture, which also leads to a possible new love interest.
There's a real chemistry between Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt and the relationship is believable. Deschanel plays to her "manic pixie dream girl" strengths and, as always, comes off as charming and adorable. Gordon-Levitt portrays all the insecurities and foibles of the "average" man while still coming off as likable.
While the film is about a failed relationship, the underlining message seems to be about personal growth. While Tom and Summer were never meant to be, both characters grow because of the relationship and start improving their lives. It shows that, despite the short-term pain, a failed relationship isn't the end of the world, but an opportunity to learn and grow for the next one.