both crushing and hopeful, just like life

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2009)

This movie deserves a spot next to "When Harry Met Sally" in my DVD collection. The movie jumps back and forth in the storyline, which was a clever way to lay out the plot, but you have to pay attention, so you can keep track of how much time elapses between various key events. Great use of music. It's not explicitly stated, but the story is told from the perspective of the male lead, Tom, and thus neither you nor Tom ever quite understand why the female lead (Summer) feels or acts the way she does. This is important to know, because this is how things are in real life and often leads to frustration, especially if "Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't." Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a perfect job of making the viewer feel every high and low on Tom's 500-day journey, and Zooey Deschanel gives Summer the qualities of being both approachable and unattainable.