(500) days of summer

Cast: Tom Hansen:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A trained architect who works in a greeting card company.
Summer Finn: Secretary at said greeting card company.

Director: Mark Webb (directorial debut of sorts)

Release Date: 31 Aug 2009

Running Time: 95 min (PG-13 for rude humor)

If you don’t get the significance of the parentheses in the title, please click here !

(500) days of summer is by far one of my favorite movies of all time. It is a love story, sort of, told out of order (Wikipedia describes it as: a love story with a non-linear narrative) as Tom Hansen (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) recounts the 500 days, in a highly mangled order as if he were assisted by memory, during which he fell in love with Summer Finn (played by Zooey Deschanel), tries convincing Summer to actually commit to the relationship with no result and finally falls out of the relationship with mixed results.

Tom Hansen meets Summer Finn and it’s love at first sight. Sadly, this would remain a case of unrequited love as Summer doesn’t believe in all that "load of crap". Tom Hansen tries vainly to put a descriptive tag on their "relationship" (boyfriend-girlfriend, f-buddies etc.) but eventually comes to the realization that Summer and he aren’t meant to be.

The two go their separate ways only to bump into each other *days* later! Tom gets invited to Summer’s house for a party. He envisions this being that significant moment in time that would resonate through eternity as the day when they actually get back together again. Its heartbreaking though as this party was to celebrate Summer’s engagement to another person.

Tom leaves the party, quits his job, takes to breakfasts of alcohol and junk food and recounts the many wonderful carefree days that he had spent with Summer, his lost love. He pulls himself together, reapplies for jobs as an architect and tries to get his life back to normal.

On day 488, Summer sees Tom at his favorite spot in the city and they talk. Tom states his lack of understanding towards her actions but ultimately, wishes Summer well. Twelve days later, on day 500, he attends a job interview and meets a girl, who is also applying for the same job. Before entering the interview, he makes a date to have coffee with her afterward. He asks her for her name, and she replies, "Autumn."

The droll and deadpan delivery of dialogue that is Zooey Deschanel’s forte and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s generally lost but not nearly as innocent demeanor lifts the film a few notches above other romantic comedies.

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