Romantic comedies don't get any better than this!

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2010)

It's always a thrill to watch romantic comedies, because they make us feel good about life generally and because they confirm our beliefs that love is very much alive and that it can happen to anyone...even if these movies ARE absolutely fictional and carry a plot line that's as believable as The Lord of the Rings taking place in New York. This year, however, director Marc Webb has astounded us with a TRULY refreshing romantic comedy called "(500) Days of Summer", which is by far THE most original romantic comedy of the year, and which is not only life-affirming but which also echoes true life and which has a ring and a taste of certainty that no other film of its genre has captured.
The film follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a man who studied to be an architect but who is now suffocated in a greeting-card business that's not very motivating but which does give him easy money to earn. He's the kind of man who believes that love comes to you, that you immediately FEEL who you'll live with for the rest of your life when you meet that person. In just a few minutes, the film opens up the character of Tom in a very complete, methodical and empathic way, and by the end of these first minutes, we feel like we already know him completely and that we sympathize with whatever he'll do. Now, this likable man who believes in happily ever after meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel), an equally likable and charming girl who the audience instantly falls in love with. Despite her appealing demeanor and her irresistible personality, Summer refuses to believe in true love and is convinced that she will NEVER find a man with whom she'd like to live with, let alone marry...and like the tag-line of the movie says: "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't." The story is as simple as they come, but the way it's told is fresh and a pure joy to watch. Tom goes through the 500 days he's known Summer, but he doesn't do so in chronological order; scenes go madly back and forth in time, from day 275 to day 43, to 470, to day 1 and etc. This might at first seem a bit too crazy, but I ask you, who can detail the entire story of a long relationship precisely from day 1 to the last? Usually you begin somewhere and, once you start telling the story, you come back to previous events that support something else you said, right? This style of storytelling enhances the feeling of the movie and gives it the sort of 'puzzle solving' characteristic of other films. Needless to say, each scene is infused with the charm and wit of both main characters, and the days of their relationship pass through our minds, and we feel like we can savor their emotions, like their words inject life and experience into our bloodstream.
Summer is a wonderful girl, she really likes Tom and she's willing to be friends with him and to have an open relationship. But Tom falls in love with her every day more, she allows him to do so and we see their intimate relationship go to such depths where the only outcome could possibly be a Happy Ever After. Nevertheless their views on life and love are so different that the story always keeps us in suspense as to what the resolution may be. Tom is besotted with Summer, she refuses to give the relationship another go, and as both their views begin to clash so much, we're (the audience) sure that ANYTHING is possible. It IS a romantic comedy, but there's no way we can predict the outcome, even if it's as obvious as they come. THAT'S the wonder of the film, how it takes such a simple story and give it infinite depth and charisma to a point where you cannot help but wonder why you've never seen such a heartfelt affirmation of life and love on screen before.
It's a film without a single cheesy moment or without exploiting a single cliché either. It's completely new, and the charm exuded by the characters doesn't remind us of any other cinema couple. On the contrary, they remind us of ourselves, of the people we know, of true stories we've heard before. When we see them going into a karaoke bar in the movie, or when they meet at the park for a picnic, the situation, the dialogue, and the action are so REAL, so natural and so touching that you can't help but feel you know the characters personally. In a very silent and straightforward way the film engrosses you.
The editing is perfect, and there's just no other order to the scenes. Change the sequence of one scene with the next and the film would lose its power. The cinematography is remarkable- with a particular scene where Tom and Summer are walking and he's showing her his favorite buildings- this scene is grandiose. And there's even a Broadway-style musical number which is totally adequate, complete with a choreography and animated bluebirds à la Song of the South; there's another poignant scene that's split-screen with a dream event occurring in one side and the dark truth happening on the other; there's also interview scenes where other characters give their opinions on the topic of love. The film is all-inclusive where photographic techniques are involved, and it gives the screenplay a playful and cheery quality which mesmerizes us.
This film was sent from romantic comedy heaven, and it's one of the surprise best films of the year. It's sure to carve its notch among the best films of its genre ever. Go see it now! And, like every other critic has said, ignore the commas in the title; save yourself the loss of Ogdens.
Rating: 4 stars out of 4!!