"There are two types of people in the world: there are men and there are women."
(500) Days Of Summer is delightful - calculatedly so, maybe - but still delightful. It is a gently-humoured, wry journey through an idealised young couple's relationship, leaping around the timeframe of their 500 days in order to create effective juxtapositions of the good times and bad, the excitement of the early days and the exhausted regret of the end. Apart from the irregularly-used voice-over which intrudes, the script is pitch perfect and the structure beautifully handled by director Marc Webb. The somewhat deliberately indie/kooky selection of songs can feel contrived, but it gives the film a wistful, almost nostalgic, feel. The film naturally hinges on the central couple: as Tom, the excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers yet another faultlessly-etched, detailed performance, ably matched by Zooey Deschanel's signature brand of effortless charm as Summer. There are plenty of wonderfully-staged situations and one-liners which elevate (500) Days Of Summer well above the average romantic comedy and into the realm of finely-observed emotional drama. Who would have thought that a visit to IKEA could be so much fun?
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