Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer (2009)

What happens when you desperately love someone who doesn't love you back? This is a rite of passage and a dilemma for 99% of humanity, and it's the core of (500) Days of Summer, an "anti-RomCom" to some, a mirror to others. The performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as the (ill?)-fated couple are fantastic, and there's lots of laughs and wit in the script. Some critics have bemoaned the movie's "hipster" vibe, which I found perplexing as everything looked like the kind of environment young urban singles would inhabit.

This movie actually hit me much harder than I thought it would, because it completely nails the kinds of scenarios and exchanges that are part of the dating process for people who aren't in a position (psychologically or socially) to casually flit from one lover to the next. I don't think any film I've ever seen captured the awkwardness, frustration, and misery of those moments quite so well.

At the same time, this is a film that takes a wonderfully clear-eyed look at L-O-V-E and its problems, while also affirming that love can and does exist, even if not for everyone everywhere all the time. It's a complex message most movies don't have the time or talent to deliver.

My Rating: 9/10 ("Loved It")