A movie of your life.

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2012)

Only in a few ways is, "an off-beat romantic comedy" a fair description. It does little to embody the true nature of this film, which, is far greater than what can be said in a few words.
Rather loosely do I consider this film a "Rom Com." By comparison to others, yes -- you may call it "off-beat." However, in ways that mere words will do little to express, I found it incredibly ON-beat. If your heart beats at all like Tom Hansen's, you will be in awe at how perfectly this film mirrors and embodies your deepest experiences with girls like Summer Finn. In this way, the story is amazingly realistic, and the connection that is carefully crafted between viewer and movie is absolutely profound. It reaches out to you blindly, KNOWING it will grab your hand.
The scenes between Tom and Summer are virtually perfect. Perfect in the sense that they form the core essence of the film which is based on a true story -- that story being your life. In this way, I consider the movie non-fiction. Everything about it is so archetypal. The experiences, the characters. Summer Finn is the EPITOME of those her type, and if you can relate to this film as much as I can, you will INEVITABLY think of certain girls from your past. Even more profoundly, certain scenes may trigger flashbacks of your past -- it's THAT relatable.
By comparison with it's artistically liberal nature, its cinematic approach is a bit uncomplicated and perhaps at times slightly sub-par. On one hand, I consider it a very realistic movie and in that way, less is more. On the other however, I feel the camera work and editing could have been a bit more interesting. There were some sweet spots here and there, likely inspired by the French New Wave approach of "The Graduate," but ultimately the cinematography had a lot more potential to lend itself to the emotion of the movie.
All in all, this is a phenomenal film. It plays in an odd time signature, experimenting with key, scale, and tempo changes, but again: If you're like me or Tom Hansen, you know that it plays to the beat of a broken heart, and that's beautiful.