(500) Days of Summer: Review (some spoilers)

(500) Days of Summer has been out for quite a while, but as we leave summer behind I finally got a chance to see it on Labor day. It's a remarkable movie, not a love story, but still the story of a relationship and the course it takes. Joseph Gorden-Levitt (wonderful in The Lookout) plays Tom, a greeting card writer who is sure his true love is out there somewhere. He meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn't believe in fate or true love, and just wants to be friends. Of course, they do fall into a deeper relationship of sorts and Tom thinks he's found the one. Unfortunately, Summer doesn't feel the same. We see some of their 500 days together and not. There are ups and downs and a wonderful dance scene (below) when Tom feels that initial burst of love. I think just as people can be referred to as a "Betty" or a "Veronica", someday you'll be able to say whether you were the "Tom" or the "Summer" after a relationship was over. Either you're the one who loved the most or you're the one who wanted to stay friends (obviously in relationships that work out, neither is the Tom OR Summer). It's a great movie that has a good soundtrack, excellent acting, and a great gimmick to tell the story in an order that makes their encounters make sense, but maybe not all the time. I just loved Joseph Gorden-Levitt's smile when he was happy and in love, and you can't beat his downtrodden facade when it all goes south ( his boss asks him to start channeling his grief into the "funeral and sympathy card department"). 4 of 5 stars/lambs