Perhaps Autumn Will Be Better

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2010)

I'm sure most of us have heard the term "chick-flick". You know the one. The movie that has the girl falling for the guy, then a dilemma develops, they fall apart, only to be brought back together by serendipity {play romantic chorus here}.
Well this isn't that kind of movie, thank you very much...
This is something newer, something I like to call "a romantic guy flick." No, it's not some horny dude looking to plop his thing into any attractive gal that comes along (KNOCKED UP) or some roadtrip movie gone awry (THE HANGOVER). This is a story of unrequited love ...from the man's side. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (THE LOOKOUT) stars as Tom, a guy wanting nothing more than to fall in love with the girl of his dreams. And he believes he's found her in Summer (Zooey Deschanel, THE HAPPENING). Trouble is Summer only wants to be "friends with benefits." She tells Tom this from the get-go, but Tom's having none of it. He believes he can turn her toward him and onto a path of blissfulness.
The film juxtaposes their 500 days together in a unique pattern: by traversing the days in a haphazard fashion, jumping from day 490 to day 39, then on to day 65 and back to day 1. This is representational of Tom's need to find out what went wrong with their relationship, as Summer breaks it off and devastates Tom. Or did anything go wrong? Perhaps Tom simply wasn't listening ...or being unrealistic in his expectations of Summer.
Whatever the reason, many lonely guys out there will probably be able to identify with "that girl that broke my heart" syndrome that Tom goes through. This is what makes (500) DAYS OF SUMMER the guy flick I referred to earlier. It is frustrating, funny, and downright depressing. Doubly so when we see Summer hold hands with Tom even after there is no hope for them, further confounding Tom's sense of right and ...love.
Even though there's a depressing air to the entire film, it does have its lighter moments thanks to two of Tom's buddies who are absolutely clueless about relationships yet offer their ridiculously bad advice to him. Tom's kid sister Rachel (Chloe Moretz) plays the sounding board and only person who seems to have a grip on what Tom really needs, which is a funny byline since she's basically a 12-year-old with the maturity level of a 20-something.
The movie might have ended on a very sour note, further depressing anyone watching. But, in the end, we're given a small ray of sunshine that drifts away from Summer and helps lift Tom into a new season. Perhaps Autumn will be better...