The narrator of this film [500] Days of Summer told me from the start that the film was not a love story. I really should have believed him. [500] Days of Summer does not start where one would expect (day one). In fact, it fast forwards into the film’s future and starts at day 488. Given half of the film’s title is 500 days, you expect this is showing you quite a glimpse of how the story you’re about to watch will end. I wasn’t a fan of this, I like stories to go in chronological order, however the film sped on back to day one and we truly began the story.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Havoc, Stop-Loss) plays Tom Hansen, a greeting card designer who falls for a woman, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel of Yes Man and The Happening) who does not believe in true love. Tom believes Summer is the one. Summer, however, is quite contempt being a single and independent woman. The film follows the 500 days when Summer is part of Tom’s life, through the good times and bad.

Tom’s relationship with his little sister, and turning to her for love advice is a nice touch, as is the blossoms or lack of on the cartoon trees when the film displayed the day number which reflected the feelings of Tom. I didn’t like that the film went back and forth in time, from day 1 to 488, day 3 to 276. Personally I would just prefer it to start at day one and go forward, however I guess this was part of what made the film special.

[500] Days of Summer is a cute wee story, and one thing that I really enjoyed about it is that it is real. It does not place unrealistic expectations on men and women on how relationships should pan out. It shows the troubles people face in relationships from the moment they meet someone they like, through the process of beginning a relationship (or a non-relationship) and addressing the speed bumps along the way. At the same time this is an aspect I didn’t like about this film. It was too real. In fact it seemed all too familiar, and although it is refreshing to see on the

Great movie! Not hard to see why 500 Days of Summer was one of the best films of 2009.
Both of the main stars were perfectly suited for their roles.
Well scripted and a good score - well worth getting 500 Days of Summer out on dvd!