Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl... but this isn't a love story

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2010)

If you are a fan of my reviews, you know one of my ultimate hatred for romantic comedies. The genre is so beyond tired, predictable and unrealistic fantasies that little girls need to tell themselves that they're going to find their prince charming one day and will live happily ever after. When 500 Days of Summer was released, I thought it was going to be the same thing, but this movie kept on getting all these great reviews, so I decided to suck it up and see what it was about. Holy God, I cannot believe there is a romantic comedy that is not only funny but extremely realistic and very well told. This is the kind of story that brings us back down to Earth, because everyone has had this type of a romance in their lives. Wither you're a realist or a hopeless romantic, this movie will work for you. The two lead actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel worked so well together and were just a pleasure on screen. Both characters have faults, but still remain very lovable people and are someone to relate too.
Tom Hansen meets Summer Finn, the new assistant to his boss. Tom trained as an architect but works as a writer at a greeting card company, living in Los Angeles. Following a karaoke night, Tom's co-worker, McKenzie, lets slip that Tom is attracted to Summer. Over the next few months Summer and Tom grow closer, despite Summer making it clear to Tom that she does not believe in true love, and does not want a boyfriend. Summer and Tom split up after they see The Graduate, a film which Tom thinks shows true love. Tom does not take the break up well, and Tom's friends call his younger sister, Rachel, to calm him down. Summer quits the greeting card company and Tom's boss moves him to consolations, as his depression is not suitable for happier events.
I've had my "Summer" and I'm sure I've been a "Summer" to men before, that's why I loved this movie so much. For once this was a movie that I could relate too on a lot of levels. The director took a lot of risks with this movie and I loved the way it paid off. One of my favorite shots that I've just been bragging about to my friends and family was when Tom is invited to Summer's party, he's thinking that it's because she's starting to like him again as a love interest, so the director split's the screen as "Expectations" and "Reality". Tom goes into the party with a split screen of what he is expecting as Summer is so excited to see him and they reconnect, but in his reality vision, she's happy to see him, but he realizes that it's not the kind of happy that she's loving him again. Even the supporting cast, we don't have a cliché of characters, we have real friends and family that we would have in life. 500 Days of Summer is a charming movie and such a breath of fresh air that Hollywood can still pull in original ideas and make a romantic comedy that is not only funny, but heart warming as well. The ending is guaranteed to leave a smile on your face.
9/10