(500) Days of Summer (2009)

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER is this year's "Juno." Few movies will feel as good going down, but it doesn't stick to your ribs. Directed by Marc Webb, the film is his debut work following a career of directing music videos for artists like Green Day. This coincidence was not lost on me, nor on Ty Burr of the Boston Globe, who called it "'Annie Hall' for the iPod generation."

Indeed, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER is a romantic comedy on "shuffle," and so heavily of its generation that if you can't relate, the film will be lost on you. I have to come to terms with the fact that, sadly, I am a generation older than the one portrayed here. It's the reason why other of-the-moment films like "Garden State" went right past me. I simply couldn't relate. But this one worked for me. While the narrative conceit of shuffling the days of a broken relationship as the dumped male reflects on what went wrong seems hopelessly trendy and modern, it also feels a little like real life to me. We don't, in real life, remember things exactly in the order in which they happened. Especially not things that turned out poorly. When we are a flood of complex emotions, how can we be expected to control the order of our thoughts?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic as Tom, the shoulda-been-an-architect-turned-greeting-card-writer who falls for Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a newly-hired administrative assistant at his company. Watching this film made me want to scream from the rooftops: "I told you so!" While most of America seems to just now be catching on to him, I followed Gordon-Levitt from his childhood run on "Third Rock From the Sun" directly to three fantastic, no-budget indies: the emotionally devestating "Latter Days," the provocative and sexually graphic "Mysterious Skin" and the exceptional film noir-reboot "Brick." It was as good of a three film-run as any actor has had all decade, though few seemed to notice. Maybe now they will.

Deschanel seems to be getting more of the thanks for (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, though for me, she is rather plain. I suppose that's what's refreshing about her work here, because it allows her character to avoid the recent (and descructive) rom-com stereotype of the female lead as some sort of shrewd harpie who must be tamed by the puppy-dog man. Instead, we are told from the get-go that her Summer is not interested in commitment. And while we secretly hope with Tom that she'll change her mind, we know all along that she won't. And yet, to Deshanel's credit, we never think of Summer as some kind of cold-hearted bitch.

That's probably what's even better about this film than the clever unraveling of the film: the fact that it does seem so normal, so realistic, so uncinematic. Unfortunately, this can also be a reason why the film felt, to me, to be something rather lightweight in the end. Not a moment of the film felt false to me, and for that I will speak fondly about (500) DAYS OF SUMMER. But is this "best picture" material, or simply just one of the few smart and sensible films of its genre released in a while? I tend to believe in the latter.

There are many other fun and witty things about (500) DAYS OF SUMMER. What worked very well for me was the kitchy soundtrack, anchored by one of Gordon-Levitt's best moments in the movie to the tune of a dusty, 80s Hall & Oates song that helped connect older viewers like me to the film (because we know every word). I won't spoil the fun of the song's use in the movie if you haven't seen it, but I'll give you a clue...think "Enchanted.")

Dialogue in the film had that crisp, modern, pop-culture-laden edge to it as "Juno" did, which led me to my initial comparison between the two films. Sid and Nancy are part of an important philosophical conversation between Tom and Summer. "The Graduate" is referenced twice in the film, and a clip from its ending is even used here. And Ikea, in the product placement of the year, becomes the location for one of the film's most romantic scenes.

Not a moment of (500) DAYS OF SUMMER was hard to swallow, and not a moment was unenjoyable. But when I think of the film as a whole, I'm also not sure how much of it I will truly remember. I suspect that film viewers in their 20s will really relate to this one. I don't see it as a film of as much consequence as either "The Graduate" or "Annie Hall," but maybe it will come to be this generation's version of those films. But it was good enough for me to enjoy regardless.

3.0 out of 4