A new twist on the romantic comedy

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2009)

Other than Dead Snow, the film that I most enjoyed at Sundance 2009 was 500 Days of Summer, a romantic-comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, two amazing actors known for their indie roles. Right from the beginning the movie warns the audience that it is not a love story, and this is only somewhat true. The film is a non-linear look at the 500 days that Joseph's character (Tom) is infatuated/in love with Zooey's character (Summer), all of the ups, downs, and in between stages. What sets this film apart from the genre is that the story is told not from the female perspective, but rather from the male perspective which is very rarely seen in romantic comedies. While it becomes clear that the film is in fact not a love story about Tom and Summer, it turns out to be a love story between Tom and life/love itself. In the beginning of the movie we see Tom as the type of person who love's his life and when he meets Summer he only seems to love it more. As the movie progresses and we see the deterioration of their relationship, so deteriorates the love that Tom has for his life and love in general. However, by the end of the film, though he is not reunited with Summer, Tom has a newfound understanding of life and love, and his character is brought full circle, but a little older and a little wiser.