500 Days Of Sublime Summer

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2010)

On the face of it 500 Days of Summer is just another 'rom-com'. Another boy meets girl, falls in love..you know the rest. Yet, as the film begins, 'you should know this is not a love story', you realise 500 Days of Summer is so much more and in my opinion one of the best films of the last couple of years.
As with most of the best films the concept is hardly rocket science. To sum it up the film follows Tom Hanson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his on/off relationship with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel)over a period of 500 days. Yet whilst the majority of 'rom coms' these days seem to seek their laughs from placing there characters in a series of increasingly fantastical situations, it is the sheer mundaneness of the situations Tom and Summer find themselves in that really makes this film work. For instance a shopping trip to Ikea, a visit to a modern art exhibition or just the sheer fact they met in the bland environment of the workplace.
Both Gordon-Levitt are and Deschanel are excellent in there roles and it is hard to imagine anyone else playing there characters. However what elevates the film from 'good' to 'great' is the way it is still able to pack an emotional punch, grounding the characters in a sense of reality. Because the scenes are spliced together, almost like random snippets of conversation in a diary, it allows the director to follow up scenes of happiness and joy with ones of angst and heartbreak, making it gloriously unpredictable and just like the ups and downs of real life.
If you are looking for any flaws you could argue the ending is a little below par, not quite as quirky or original as the previous 90 minutes, but this is a minor blemish on an otherwise fantastic picture. It is also worth pointing out the music of the Smiths, Regina Spektor consistently fits perfectly and I challenge anyone not to want to tap there feet when we get Tom's big dance number after his first date with Summer.