(500) Days of Summer

Grade: B+

I’ve discovered when I find myself sitting in a movie theater with my legs crossed, slumped in my seat, cheek resting on fist, watching the film on a slight slant, it usually means one of two things: either I’m bored out of my mind, or I’m having the pants charmed off of me. I can usually tell the difference by whether or not I’m smiling.

This one had me positively beaming.

500 days in a relationship as told from the perspective of a heartsick romantic. I really like her does she really like me? Friends, she wants to be friends? We like the same band, is there anything more cosmic? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, we just had sex! Casual, what the fuck does that mean? I am so happy, I am in so much pain, I am so confused, I am in love, this is the worst, this is the best thing ever. Told completely out of order, a relationship fades, blooms, ends, sparks and fizzles with such accurate and perceptive heart, humor, insecurity and heartache one can’t help but be utterly charmed and thoroughly touched.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so adorable it hurts. Yes, he’s cute as all hell with puppy dog eyes and a smile to die for, but the full measure of his adorableness flows from a quirky, easy manner and soulful, affable sincerity – few have portrayed smitten with such unaffected and tender charisma. So dark, brooding and foreboding in an equally fine performance as a sexually abused and sexually compulsive gay man in 2004’s “Mysterious Skin,” Gordon-Levitt displays a bravura jolt of versatility. Even when the film veers into occasional shmultz, just try not to empathize – I dare you. This is an up-and-comer to watch.

Zooey Deschanel is eccentrically likeable if not completely ingratiating as the other romantic half who doesn’t believe in either love or relationships – until she does. Told entirely from his perspective, she has the difficult task of being somewhat one dimensional yet genuinely appealing and marginally sympathetic. It’s hard to like someone commitment phobic and emotionally unavailable, yet we can see why he rolls the dice, lays himself bare and vulnerable, and takes a chance on love despite all the blaring warning signals. Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler are fine sidekicks (although Arend goes off the diving board when playing drunk) Chloe Moretz genuinely funny as the younger sister with a foul mouth and advice well beyond her years.

The film is delightfully fresh and creative – our Romeo’s response to his “first time” with Zooey is “I’m a Pepper” hysterical, a split screen comparing his “expectations” vs. the “reality” at a party is downright torturous – we’ve all so been there it’s impossible not to cringe and commiserate.

People can really be unintentionally cruel. Heartbreak can be mindbendingly painful. And still we keep trying. Back to Day (1).

More Movie Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1022603/