Do not fear the chick flick, 500 Days of Summer is amazing and very thoughtful

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2009)

"This is a story of boy meets girl, but this is not a love story" the narrator warns at the opening of 500 Days of Summer. "I'm not looking for anything serious" Zooey Deschanel's Summer warns Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Tom at the beginning of their relationship. Both the audience and Tom absorb this, but at the same time ignore it, and the revelation of its truth takes both the audience and the main character for one hell of a turn. Far from the chick flick it may seem to be, 500 Days of Summer is an incredible insight into male infatuation and perception that promises to be the indie hit of the year (think this years Juno).
The style of the movie is quite original, especially for those expecting a standard romance fare, so just go see the movie and don't read the reviews if at all possible.
500 Days begins around day 300, where Summer breaks up with Tom. This leaves 200 days for this to turn around though, right? We then revert right back to day 1, and continue to jump around in time over the 500 days span, from their first meeting in an elevator listening to the Smiths to their conflicting visits to IKEA and such.
It reminds me in a sense of the brilliant Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which by the way I cannot recommend enough. The perception of Tom is what we see, and while it seems that many instances are romance clichés, when it is (through choreographed dance) made clear that the movie is through Tom's eyes and not a third party, we start to look below the surface of what is being shown. Failed relationships are not remembered as they actually happened, and the movie plays with this to a considerable extent.
The leads make this journey incredibly believable. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, through movies like Brick and The Lookout, has become one of my favourite actors out there right now (3rd Rock was a looooong time ago). He should be immediately identifiable for most guys, and decently lovable for most girls. His performance is nothing short of exceptional for the genre. Deschanel is also spot-on perfect as the girl who knows what she likes but has no idea what she wants.
I must give a brief praise for the soundtrack. The karaoke scenes make amazing use of The Pixies and The Clash (points for the most proper use of Train in Vain ever), and the inclusion of Wolfmother near the end is, for lack of a better word, awesome (yeah, thats right, Wolfmother in a "romance").
Do not fear the chick flick, 500 Days of Summer is amazing and very thoughtful. I fear somewhat that people expecting a chick flick will view it as a downer and guys won't see it because it wears the clothing of romance, 500 Days is the best movie of its kind I've seen since Eternal Sunshine, and by all means is a must-see.