Pandering to the Hipsters

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2012)

Straight out of the Juno school of filmmaking, here's another bitter- sweet, off-beat romantic comedy with a quirky, off-beat girl, an ironic sense of humor mixed with sweet romanticism, and tons of cultural references and name-dropping from Ringo Starr to Ingmar Bergman to Oscar Wilde, a sure way to appeal to young proto-intellectuals and hipsters.
It works, to a certain degree, especially thanks to two very effective leads. Having had my own little celebrity-crush on Zooey Deschanel ever since her short but unforgettable performance in Almost Famous almost a decade ago, it was easy to relate to the character portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who's growing up to be quite a decent actor by his own right, even if he still looks sixteen (I was hoping to see some stubble in the scene in which he's depressed and doesn't leave his bed for a week, but nada).
500 Days of Summer has a lot going for it, and a lot of the right elements are in place, but it doesn't achieve real greatness, not even mild and humble greatness like that of solid, intelligent romantic comedies (Jerry Maguire, When Harry Met Sally, High Fidelity etc.) It's just not that memorable, and stylistic elements like the non-linear storytelling serve mainly the purpose of being cool and contemporary than any real one. And even though the actors are great and they do their best, they do it with characters that aren't very complex to begin with. It's an enjoyable movie, and a fantastic date-movie for a couple of young cynics, but it's not one that will stick with you for long.