The Idea:  A man falls in love with a woman who does not believe in love.

Depressing?  Although the lady sitting next to me was crying hysterically at one point, it wasn’t, and that’s what made it so great.  I had no idea that (500) Days of Summer was going to be a comedy but I was extremely pleased that it was.  Not many non-musicals can get away with having a music video to Hall & Oates without looking silly; however, the great directing by Marc Webb, writing by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, and acting by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer) allowed the movie to get away with that and much more.

Let me start by saying Zooey Deschanel and her character, Summer, were excellent.  However, I think all of you that read Tyler’s review, and a hundred other posts on her, have had enough.  Instead, I will focus on what really made the movie for me, Joseph Gordon Levitt as Tom, and the excellent screenwriting that took this rather depressing idea and turned it into a hilarious, but realistic and extremely emotional comedy.

After seeing (500) Days of Summer you would never assume that the highlight of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character was Angels in the Outfield. Gordon-Levitt was incredible in this movie.  His ability to take his character, Tom, from exuberance to complete depression amazed me.  He was funny, serious, captivating, relatable, and honest.  Without Tom the movie would have lost it its (allow me to make up a word) connectability.  In my opinion, Summer was the character that kept made this movie interesting and different, but Tom was the character that allowed this movie to progress and seem real.  It can be whether or not Summer changed throughout the movie, but their can be no argument about Tom.  The character changed and Joseph Gordon Levitt changed right along with him.

The second key to (500) Days of Summer was that it never lost its place as a comedy.  This can be attributed to the excellent screenwriting by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.  From one liners to a Hall & Oates music video this movie had all sorts of comic relief that fit perfectly into the deep relationship between Summer and Tom.  The comedy made the highs that much higher and the lows that much lower.  What’s even better about the comedy is that it wasn’t overdone.  When the movie needed to build intensity or develop a relationship it was able to do so without leaving the audience missing the comedy.

Overall, (500) Days of Summer is one of my favorite movie so far this year.  It was funny, emotional, real, innovative, and perfectly structured.  Most of all, I am glad that I was introduced to Joseph Gordon Levitt.  Hopefully, we will be seeing him in some major roles in the next few years.

8.5/10

Kevin