A Great, not very typical, Romantic Comedy/Drama

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2009)

Saw this one last night.....be warned, this is a spoil heavy review.
The movie opens with a narrator telling us that this is not a love story....I wasn't sure if I believed him, or if this was some Hollywood misdirection. Well, he wasn't lying....kind of. As far as the outcome of this movie is concerned, it's more "The Breakup" than it is Two Weeks Notice. The 2 main characters don't end up together in the end.....but this IS still a love story. It just happens that it's a story about failed love.
Joe has met the girl of his dreams in Summer. She's pretty, funny, quirky....pretty much everything you'd want in a girlfriend. Yet, they break up in one of the opening scenes. The rest of the movie visits specific days in their love affair, in a non-linear fashion. One scene we see their first meeting, the next scene is 200 days later and they are fighting, the next is their first date. I found that it was a little tough to keep track of "what came first", but that's a very minor issue. The movie is consistently funny, and at times touching. Eventually the movie takes a turn into the more serious and I found a lot of it to be unexpected (but not unwelcome). I won't go into details, but it rang very true in my experience.
The movie is decidedly from Joe's point of view, so while the movie may look like a chick flick on the outside, I think that realistically, it's more a movie for guys.....specifically, for any guy who's ever had their heart broken. Many of us have had a Summer. I know I have. And pretty much everything Joe goes through is instantly relatable. Not knowing what the hell just happened because everything seemed just perfect. It's only when you can step back and really look at your relationship that you realize "hmmmmm, maybe the cracks were there after all".
I don't wanna say too much more about this one. I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing it again when it comes home. Oh, and I really liked the ending. I thought it was the perfect way to end the movie.
Definitely Recommended.
P.S. Hopefully you saw The Graduate, it might help you out with a few scenes.