The love story that's not a love story

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2011)

This is not a love story. The narrator tells us so right at the beginning. We meet our two central characters, our two lovebirds, and know immediately that their relationship is doomed to fail. As the film's title suggests the movie takes place over 500 days. But we begin near the end, day 488 to be precise. The love story that's not really a love story has already run its course. We see the end and then we are taken back to the beginning, day one. After that we're all over the place, constantly jumping forward and back in time, a jumbled mess of memories as a man remembers the good times and bad of the love affair that broke his heart.
The man with the broken heart is Tom, a man who trained as an architect only to wind up as a greeting card writer. He's a good-hearted guy, a man who is a fervent believer in the idea of true love. And when Summer shows up he's sure he has found the love of his life. Summer's a seemingly sweet girl. She's charming, quirky, offbeat. Kind of like the movie itself. And for that matter like the actress who plays the part, Zooey Deschanel. As you watch the movie play itself out it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Summer. Deschanel is utterly perfect. But as great as Deschanel is, as compelling as her character may be, this movie is about Tom. We're seeing the story from his perspective. We're rooting for him. For the movie to work the actor playing this part was always going to be the real key. Happily, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a terrific job. Through all the highs and lows of the Tom and Summer relationship Gordon-Levitt captures wonderfully the emotions Tom is feeling in each moment. When Tom's heart breaks yours breaks right along with him.
From the moment he first laid eyes on her Tom saw Summer as the perfect woman. That was his first mistake. Nobody's perfect. Summer has her obvious charms but what's really hidden away behind the dazzling smile and big, blue eyes? Right at the start Summer tells Tom she does not believe in true love. Tom ignores this at his own peril. Tom and Summer seem to make a great couple but they want different things out of life, out of each other. Sure there are some good times along the way but it can't last. Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel have great chemistry, playing off one another beautifully. Seeing them together makes you desperately wish this was a love story. But it's not. And the way the movie jumps around in time puts a smart, well-played twist on the story. We can see the best time in the relationship, the highest of highs. And then immediately jump forward to the lowest of lows. A great illustration of how fragile something seemingly so perfect can really be. Where did it all go wrong? Tom's trying to sort it out inside his head and we're right there with him. This is a movie about a doomed relationship, about a man who had his heart shredded to pieces. But, no doubt helped by the two great lead performances, it's charming nonetheless. It's not a spectacular movie but it's certainly enjoyable and clever too. It's a movie which puts some unique twists on the typical love story. The biggest twist being that it's not really a love story at all.