Critically acclaimed romance...but light on the romance

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2010)

It would be incredibly hard to convince me that (500) Days of Summer is a romance of any kind. Perhaps one of the reasons that critics were so taken by it is that it is more a story of realistic relationship...sad perhaps but true. Redeemable almost entirely by the sole performance of the male lead but unlike most typical "romance" movies the female lead is almost entirely unlikable. It isn't the fault of the actress but rather the story that really paints the male character as the deeply emotional, sensitive, and sweet guy and pair him with a commitment phobic, and almost un-emotional girl. The film runs through the almost two years of their on again, off again "friendship" in various stages and does truly demonstrate every possible range of the relationship. The film has a sweet indie feel to it with some really nice settings and nature like cinematography.
Essentially there are two performances in this film that matter at all. The supporting cast is scarce and while they all are decent, there aren't any truly outstanding supporting roles. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really making a name for himself and I expect he has a big, big role in his future. For the time being he seems to be set into the indie circuit but giving some impressive performances. In this film he borderlines being almost whiny but fortunately stays on the side of truly likable. As Tom Hansen he shows a truly soft side that will make most women melt and most guys feel sensitive...secretly. Has Zooey Deschanel ever had a truly good role? She was decent in Elf. She should have been banned from acting after The Happening. She gives a decent performance in this film but is unfortunately tasked with a very bad character. She has so many emotional problems that she comes across as cold to the man who falls in love with her. They have good chemistry but you get so attached to how Gordon-Levitt feels that you despise Deschanel for hurting him.
There is an unfortunate stigma attached to both primarily TV directors, and music video directors. Marc Webb has very little experience on a big screen film and customary to many music video directors they think the best style is to flip through various scenes to tell a story which can sometimes lead to it being rushed and seem like a mish-mash of ideas. The story not always being in chronological order doesn't help but is fairly easy to follow along thanks to the 500 days concept and the naming of what day they are in to their relationship. It has to be said in an off topic I think the idea of Marc Webb being pegged for the Spiderman reboot is a terrible one both pun wise and director wise. The writing team of Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter are new to Hollywood and their only other claim to fame is The Pink Panther 2 (nuff said.) (500) Days of Summer is entertaining and will definitely have you talking by the end of it like gossip bad mouthing Deschanel for what she has done to Tom. See it but don't expect a lovely romance, its rather harsh. 7/10