500 Days of Summer

Release Date (UK) - 4 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - Mark Webb

Runtime - 95 mins

Starring - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

Tom (Gordon-Levitt) works writing greeting card slogans and this is where he meets Summer (Deschanel) and promptly falls in love with her after dating for a while, but she isn't ready for that sort of commitment and soon dumps him. The film flicks frequently between the '500 days' from when he first meets her and his struggle to get over her. The fact that the story is told strictly from Tom's point of view and his interactions rather than just Summer's or a two sided affair is just the first of many un-cliched elements of this 'boy meets girl' story from first time director Webb.

The film is wonderfully fresh in its uniqueness and unpredictability, and as the narrator sets out from the start 'this is not a love story'. This infrequent narration which at first I felt was a little jilting ends up working quite well - its not the voice of any of the characters so the film doesn't over align us with Tom and its not too frequent to interfere with the plot. The almost random order of the days does become a little confusing but as long as you pay attention its quite easy to follow. More screen time is dedicated to Tom actually trying to get over Summer than the days of their dating relationship as the film takes an unusual look at relationships and the label of 'love'.

Both the stars are convincing and Gordon Levitt (who most people will recognise from his childhood days in 3rd Rock from the Sun) does so well I expect to see him many more films in the future. Unfortunately Deschanel seems to have been typecast as the quirky love interest so theres nothing I haven't seen her do before - Gigantic and Yes Man for example. However this quirkiness that is becoming popular lately in American Independent film is not all on her part as a scene where Tom and Summer play pretend house in Ikea is a lovely cutesy moment that will make you want to be in a relationship that's that much fun yourself.

There are some hilarious gags - the last line being the best but I wont spoil it and there is even a fantasy scrubs-style sequence when Tom bursts into a musical song and dance number after he spends his first night with Summer. The indie soundtrack is full of timeless classics (The Smiths, Doves, Simon & Garfunkel) that are well incorporated into the films themes as Tom and Summer argue over musical tastes, and I suspect the soundtrack may even do better than the film itself. Altogether this film is almost a new, and funnier Garden State. I hope it does as well.. go see it!