Deschanel's presence suggests a more pleasing movie than it is

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2015)

"(500) Days of Summer" finally clicks into gear somewhere just after the halfway mark when expectations clash with reality and Joseph Gordon-Levitt hits bottom. It' here that I really felt something for this character, and and the rest of the movie picks up from then on, right up until the sweet ending - a sweetness I guess I was expecting much earlier, which is why the first half left me cold. Very stilted and awkward. The supporting cast is lacking here (Moretz is the token common-sense friend), but hearing Richard McGonagle (Sully in "Uncharted") narrate this thing was very nice.
Overall, it's a good (albeit rocky) story about unrequited love and the pain that that entails, but the best thing here (aside from Gordon-Levitt) is that it's not your formulaic romantic comedy. And that subversion helps make up for the rough patches.
6/10