Typical Indie Flick

Rating: 5/10 (23 June 2009)

A lot of people have commented that this movie is fresh, charming, delightful... well I don't see much of those characteristics. It's a typical independent movie with independent music playing over practically every other scene. It features the voice over, the quirky characters, character confessionals, little antique animations, not so insightful viewpoints, and the story is pretty dry. Boy meets girl, girl doesn't want a relationship. Boy pursues anyway. The cast, however, makes most of it work. The two leads do maintain some kind of chemistry, but it's told to us from the very beginning that this is not a love story, so there's no reason to get caught up in their romance. Another facet that the film is missing is that it never shows their relationship in full bloom. We only see the beginning and the end, for the most part. Why does the male lead long for Summer after they break up? That's not really established. He's basically in love with being in love. Summer is more cautious (aka mature) than that. Basically, it relies on melodrama (music set to action) to elicit some kind of emotional response, and a lot of it is repetitive. As far as charming or delightful go, this is a break up movie. It's depressing more than anything. But if you like what the clichés that have filled independent cinema, this movie should satisfy.
P.S. Also, beware of massive product placement in this one. You'd think Akia sponsored the movie with how many times their logo is dropped.