Movie Review - 500 Days of Summer

500 days of Summer is the short-lived love story of Tom and Summer. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an architect who, frustrated with his profession, finds employment at a greeting card company to write corny messages for their cards. Attractive Summer Finn (played by Zooey Deschanel) comes on the scene as his boss’s new assistant.

Tom falls for Summer when he discovers that she shares a liking for The Smiths, his favourite band.  They are soon seeing each other, but Summer ends the relationship because she does not believe in love. Tom, on the other hand, is a hopeless romantic.

The story is not new, and most of the scenes will remind you about ones you have seen in other movies. So what makes 500 Days of Summer different? Unlike the tons of chick flicks that are released, this one does not have a happy ending.  Or rather, a happy beginning. Confused? To explain, the movie begins with the break-up, and instead of telling the story in chronological order, it flits back and forth between random days of the couple’s relationship – happy one day, breaking up the next, going back to their first meeting, then jumping forward to the days leading to the break-up. This technique makes an otherwise mediocre story enthralling and very watchable!

The movie is an accurate portrayal of the universal fact that just because two people like the same things, they need not be destined soul mates. This is one chick flick that the guys will love to watch, and the women actually may not enjoy. Finally, a movie that dares to portray a romance gone awry!

Marc Webb, the director has done an excellent job with this screenplay that flits back and forth through time. The performances are reasonably competent, though Zooey Deschanel’s portrayal of Summer could have been more convincing. Overall, a good watch, if only to see a romance turn tragic in reel life too, for a change!