Exquisit romantic genre - a new approach

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2009)

Tom (Gordon-Levitt) believes in true love and is instantly attracted to a new office employee who, because of her parent's divorce has a damaged view on the emotion.
5 years ago Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind was released, bringing about a revitalizing and refreshing taste of romance genre, a cutting edge approach which saw Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet struggle to remember when they last met owing to a dangerous memory procedure. Blending an edge of fantasy with the dramatic implications with real life was a stroke of genius, and here we see a similar approach as director Marc Webb uses real life story of guy meets girl and adds a sharp blend of diverse filming.
One thing about romantic comedy dramas is that you know what you want from and the expectancy is set. 500 days is very much different from your average Hugh Grant flick though. For starters we see numerous fantasy montages, flashbacks, split screens and a wonderful music parody of the morning after and all will make you smile, laugh and even come the end, maybe shed a tear. The perfect use of justifying the genre is the split screen just past half way through where Tom goes to Summer's apartment with one side labelled expectations and the other reality. Without the aid of the forgettable narration we can see clearly into the young guy's mind, and there is no hint of hyperbole here, I struggle to recall anything that has been so well thought out in a romance film. It is staggering realistic and such a unique insight into a lonely guy's mind.
Gordon-Levitt adds the charm to this scene but his quiet dreams and cheeky expressions will have viewers on his side. Deschanel is wonderfully kooky once more and though you may spite her in numerous scenes, everything has reason in the end.
Speaking of which adds a wonderful comic touch and thank heavens doesn't go all soppy and conventional on us. Not since Lost in Translation has an ending in a romance been so well thought out.
The pair of actors balances each other well with Tom's friends adding the comic touches; though his younger sister may seem funny it is quite unlikely her advice is as profound as she seems to think. As mentioned Mark Webb's directional debut brings about new touches with his ability to take the picture out of context into his own fantasy world without seeming too otherworldly, which is a great credit as these touches really are the keystone to this film's success.
Where it fits amongst other big romantic comedies like When Harry met Sally, Eternal Sunshine and Titanic is difficult to say. It has such an adept approach to the genre and its diverse telling is exquisite and with such a likable cast and array of protagonists, it must certainly be up there.