182: (500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer (PG-13) - 2009 - Runtime: 95 minutes
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
Director: Marc Webb

I've been wanting to see this movie because A) The trailer and hype around this movie made it look like something totally unique and fun, and B) It's got two of my favorite actors as of late, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. I both have secret crushes (although really not that secret) on them and I think they're both poised to become great A-list stars.

As much as the trailer suggests and the reviews do, this is still a romantic comedy. It's just a quirky one and inventive. From the beginning of the movie, where we see both Tom and Summer in old film reels from their childhood, we're set up that both of these star-crossed lovers are meant to be. But it's not the case, as we find out from the beginning that they've broken up after only less than a year together. But Tom wants to get her back and we're thrust through the story as it unfolds: jumping back and forth through their relationship. This may seem jarring, but it never once felt confusing or erratic, you're just as much invested in finding out where things went wrong and how it's going to end up.

The movie is by far one of the best romantic comedies I've seen in years - simply because it's so refreshing in how it tells its story and the characters involved. Levitt and Deschanel are perfect - their performances are just so real and don't fall into stereotypes. I really felt for Tom and thought Summer just may be an "uppity, better-than-everybody super skank", but you realize half-way through the movie that he's just not getting "it," that is, relationships and how they work. He's grown up thinking idealistically about what love is and trying to find "the one" rather than actually enjoying where he is in life and what he's really supposed to be doing with it.

It's just a perfect gem of a movie that's also really funny - I laughed a lot - and I would easily recommend this to anyone looking for something light and fun, but something that isn't vapid or brainless (coughThe Ugly Truthcough). This is by far the best rom-com this year, better than The Proposal (which is almost the complete opposite of this movie, but still fun nevertheless) and almost just as funny as I Love You, Man and The Hangover. Beat that!

Rating: See It!