(500) Days of Summer

Well (500) Days of Summer was an easy choice when it came down to it. It starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and since he is my favorite actor of his generation that's an easy sell. Thankfully this was a step beyond your basic romantic comedy. I’ve seen too many movies by now so a by-the-numbers rom-com would have bored me, but this was another original film that the summer has given me.

So, I have already threw out Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s name out there as my main interest for (500) Days of Summer. He is always able to show the conflict that his character is going through; the climatic scene on the bench here was fantastic. Still, it was nice to see him able to be goofy this time around. This peaked with a dance scene that was like a weird amalgamation of happy Peter Parker in Spider-Man 2 and the park song in Enchanted. Whatever it was and wherever it came from it was awesome. I love the fact that within one week I was able to see Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander and then go back to his indie home.

Zooey Deschanel was well cast as the love of Tom Hansen’s life even though she doesn’t feel the same way. She was definitely believable as the cute eccentric girl who ends up destroying the guy’s life. Such a sweet story, which I am not spoiling because the movie starts by saying that it’s not a love story. Plus the disclaimer calling out an old girlfriend that starts the film may have been the best joke. Actually my favorite running joke of the story was how Tom would turn to his pre-teen sister for love advice. These scenes were awesome and not just cause kids swearing is always funny but Chloe Moretz is now my new favorite child actor. And I knew the name was familiar but I couldn’t place it until I looked her up and realized that she is going to be Hit Girl in next year’s Kick Ass. I’m even more excited for that movie now that I have seen her work.

So, hey, here is a recommendation for a romantic comedy. All it takes is for something like (500) Days of Summer to break from the usual blueprint and it becomes memorable. It also helps to have a cast that I actually want to see in action no matter what the genre.

8 out of 10