(500) Days of Summer: Review By Corey

Let's all face it. We've all had our share of dumping on both the receiving and offence line. Whether it's the bad lines we use like "It's not you, its me" or "I really wanna be just friends" tactic, people, from whatever line we're on, know that the excuses we use is absolute...bullsh*t. Equally, all of us (yes you) have faced and experience the feeling of what it is to be "dumped" and the complex emotions that come to follow afterwards. Unless your someone who has managed to escape the depths of relationships Hell, then you sir, are a lucky one. For the rest of you who have had their hearts stomped out, ripped out, and completely broken...this movie, is dedicated to you.

Tom is a man who lives to become an architect someday, but for right now, he's a greeting-card writer whose life is turned into a whirling loop when he meets and quickly falls for new girl Summer. As one who plays hard to get, Tom manages to get himself into a "casual relationship" that he feels will change over the course of time because of feelings. After some time, Tom starts to question their status with one another and it pulls a deep effect on whatever relationship they seem to have. "(500) Days of Summer" chronicles the bitter-sweet beginnings, the dreadful endings and all that mashed in stuff that seems to take place during a relationship that is unfortunately...not meant to be.

The film is presented in very quirky style that you grow to love immediately. The film rotates back and forth from different dates and its up to you to piece with stage in this relationship goes where. It may sound difficult to follow, but in fact, the idea and set-up of this Romantic-comedy is truly brilliant. The sea-saw back and forth method of the days successfully manages to engage the viewers and really bring them deeper into Tom's feelings, and the film.

The kudos goes to Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber whose flawless script manages to show the originality in such a simple plot that we've seen before. From the amazing dance number to the short-film of Tom's suffering, the two make an unbeatable team in creating one of the most amazing scripts in the Romantic-comedy genre.

The two leads Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel brings something quite special to the screen in their portrayals of Tom and Summer. Their awkward, realistic chemistry with one another is what really makes the movie a great watch. Mostly thankful to Neustradter and Weber's suburb dialog, both actors really seemed completely comfortable in their roles. Deschanel is sexy, carefree, and bound to be adored by males everywhere as her character, Summer. Levitt does a great job capturing the struggles of the "boy in love" with all his stages of emotional imbalance. No other two actors could have brought Summer and Tom to life as Levitt and Deschanel did.

"(500) Days of Summer" presents a relationship that is more realistic and less clichéd than most in the woefully unoriginal genre. I may be a sucker when it comes to the genre, but, never have I witnessed chemistry that clicks so perfectly before.

Marc Webb's first full-length film is one to be remembered forever. If you didn't know that fact before the film, you wouldn't even know he was a rookie for a full-length movie. Webb's incredible style shooting the film is something a Romantic-comedy never gets, but "(500) Days of Summer" couldn't have asked for a better director.

As warm and depressing as a summer day can be, that's pretty much the film. Its warm in a sense of making us want to go out and live in the moment like the character Summer does. The film's mixture of silliness and deep emotion helps it move along at an incredible pace. My favorite scene in the movie is when Tom's happiness causing him to break-out into a full-on dance-video that goes to include a happy little cartoon to make the audience smile. But, you won't just smile once at this film. This movie does an excellent job making the audience smile with its quirky little scenes. It makes it so different, and very, very touching.

As the film progresses, the central timeline which is told from Day 1 when Tom meets Summer, the story is told in a "what will happen now?" fashion. Thankfully, the last act of the film stays true to what makes the film so realistic without succ*mbing to predictable Hollywood stables that one should expect walking into a Romantic-comedy. One walks in, "Okay, so they'll fall in love. Have a fight. And then somehow get back together realizing the love they have for each other. So everything's cookies and milk, then, in the end." Well, with "(500) Days of Summer" you get the real deal, people. There isn't anything predictable about the movie and the question of what will happen between the two in the end is held above the entire time.

"(500) Days of Summer" is a Romantic-comedy with a new approach. What is original is not the indie mannerisms of this Sundance hit, but the fantastic references to hit bands like The Smiths, the dance-number, and the touch of magic that makes you truly care and feel for the characters. What a breath of fresh air this movie is. If you haven't yet seen this, and are looking for something that isn't a work of fiction at all, but for something you can actually relate to, well, this is for sure your movie.

Thanks for the read!

-The new Screeny! :D