a romantic comedy that actually works

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2010)

"(500) Days of Summer" is not the first movie to tell a love story using an unorthodox chronology - with "Two For the Road," "Betrayal" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" having done brilliant trailblazing work in this area long ago. Yet, while "Summer" is not quite in the same league with those three earlier masterpieces, it's certainly miles above the formulaic nonsense that too often passes for romantic comedy these days.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who in "Mysterious Skin" delivered one of the truly searing dramatic performances of recent times, here displays a similar adeptness at light comedy playing Tom Hansen, a greeting-card writer who falls head-over-heels in love with Summer Finn (the adorable Zooey Deschanel), a newly-hired assistant in the office.
While Tom is dead-set on having a meaningful, permanent relationship, Summer feels no compulsion to throw herself into any kind of long-term commitment, determined to savor the freedom that comes with being attractive and unattached in a buzzing metropolis like Los Angeles.
Rather than following a strictly linear chronology, the screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Mark H. Weber freely jumps around in time, a technique that allows us to observe the various stages of the couple's courtship simultaneously. But fear not, for the writers are careful to identify, through numbered title cards, which of the 500 days any particular scene is taking place on so the audience doesn't become disoriented. This "dramatic irony" approach of letting us in on where the relationship will eventually wind up - beyond what even the characters themselves know at the time - adds an additional layer of poignancy to the romance.
Astutely directed by Marc Webb, "(500) Days of Summer" is marked by smart writing, perceptive storytelling, charming performances, occasional flights of fancy and a rich attention to detail. And there's a scene on a park bench near the end of the movie that is absolutely heartbreaking.
A quick FYI: for a far more somber version of pretty much the same story, check out the equally fine "The Hottest State" by Ethan Hawke. Together, these two films would make for an interesting double-bill.