A beautifully created twist on the romantic comedy

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2010)

As a man there is nothing worse than being dragged to the cinema to see some generic, identikit, thought free rom com. I have seen a few in my time, the worst being The Holiday (the relationship I was in came to an end a few days later, enough said!) So it was with great trepidation that I went to see this film with the young lady I was dating at the time.
Not another boy meets girl, boy gets girl, girl breaks boys heart, boy gets back together with girl and they all live happily ever after story. Please not another one of those. It isn't. This is a film with a twist - that twist being that this is not the happy ever after relationship we are so used to seeing. This is one of the other relationships; those that make us feel like they are forever after but, in reality, are steps on the road to where we have to get.
The story itself is very simple. Tom is the sort of guy that falls head over heels in love very easily. Summer is the sort of girl that can have any man she wants but is guarded and has commitment issues. Their coming together is gradual and the sequential nature of the film allows the relationship to be developed much more naturally. It felt like a much more organic process, as it is most of the time in real life. It gave the story a great element of realism, in my humble opinion.
As the story develops it becomes ever more apparent that this is not the idealistic relationship that Tom considers it to be. The little flaws in character that we all have show themselves through the course of the 500 days and we, before Tom, realise that Summer is never going to be the great love he perceives her to be.
The nature of the film lets us know in advance that they are going to split up and when that time comes the contrast in how the main characters deal with it puts up a mirror to their clashing personalities and the very reasons why they could not be together.
The film moves on and we see how their lives pan out. She meets and marries someone in what seems to be super quick time. He wallows in self pity (thats what Morrisey will do to you) but rediscovers his passions in life. The ending is a little too sugary for my liking but the point remains that these two characters met, fell for each other, realised it was not going to work and parted. They each took something positive away from the relationship even if it took Tom a long time (the bulk of the 500 days!) to discover this.
So there we go. Not a romance at all. Rather an all too uncommon look at those relationships that shape us; those people that mean so much at the time but who ultimately are not meant to be in our lives forever but whose impact will stay.
Incidentally the relationship I was in when I watched this for the first time did not last. Whereas I blame The Holiday for the former, I do not blame 500 Days for the latter. Indeed, it speaks volumes to me and was a rather snug fit for where my own life was at the time.
The film falls short on a couple of points. As mentioned, I found Zooey Deschanel a little wooden at times. I know the character was void of emotion (not entirely but to an extent) but even her happy face seemed strained. The supporting cast, whilst doing their jobs perfectly, were instantly forgettable but I think that is because Joseph Gordon-Levitt played such a strong Tom. The ending was a little sugary sweet and my concern was that Tom, having learned his lessons and having got his life back on track, would make the same mistake again.
But so would I. Autumn was smoking!!