(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer is a quintessentially quirky romance film that is straight up and doesn't try to follow in the footsteps of its romcom predecessors. As the title says, "This is not a love story... This is a story about love". Its nice to see a "Hollywood" film throwing of the shackles of its audiences pre-conceived ideas of a romantic film and producing a film that feels more British than American. Yes it still has that polished look and feel to it but its the plot and story line that you really should be giving your attention to.

Directed by Marc Webb, who? Well i don't know much about him to be honest, but for a first feature film its an incredible achievement. While its a non-linear plot that ebbs and flows between the "500" days of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer's (Zooey Deschanel) relationship, Webb manages to stay in complete control of the film and delivers us with a fine example of what can be achieved when you stray away from the hollywood template. Its a surprise really that Webb hasn't gone on to do anything else, though he does have a Spiderman film in production and a remake of the 2007 Danish thriller "Just Another Love Story".

The film follows our two protagonists, Tom and Summer, throughout their relationship. While the plot is non-linear and jumps from day to day it hasn't gone so far from hollywood as to be considered Independent as you get the sense (mainly due to do the first few scenes) that Tom is looking back on his relationship. It plays out that Tom is looking for something long term and to settle down with Summer, but Summer is just looking for a "summer fling". The irony at the end of course is that Summer ends up married to some guy she met in a cafe. However she says this is down to Tom and his belief in true love wearing off on Summer. The ending of the film sets a sequel up pretty perfectly but odds are that we wont be seeing anymore of Webb and Levitt in a quirky film about love.