(500) Days of Summer

I watched this film on DVD last night, after having seen it in cinemas last year, and I have to say that it is possibly my favourite film of 2009. It is a refreshing look at the romantic comedy genre. It follows the love trials of Tom played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt while he searches for the girl of his dreams; then enters Summer, played by the beautiful Zooey Deschanel who Tom instantly realises as being the one. It was a film marketed as “not a love story” but a “story about love.” From the very beginning of the film, a narrator tells us that Tom and Summer will not end up together, but as we watch it, we can’t help but hope that they do live happily ever after.
This film is nothing without the brilliant script, which tells the story with a nonlinear narrative, crossing through time, pin pointing important days in the period of 500, in no particular order. The script really is the heart of this film, there is plenty of laughs, heartfelt moments and anguish present, along with inventive ways of filmmaking, not often presented in film; an example of this is when the screen is spilt in two, the left showing Tom’s expectations and the right showing the actual reality of this certain party scene. The performances by Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are amazingly realistic as they beautifully bring the script to life. I can’t wait to see the future projects that they are involved in – specifically Gordon-Levitt’s upcoming film, Inception, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page.
This easily gives When Harry Met Sally a race for its money for my favourite Romantic Comedy, (500) Days of Summer possibly takes the lead...
A must see for all film lovers.