MOVIE REVIEW: I’ve been meaning to get this review out for the last couple of days, but haven’t had the chance. So here it is. “(500) Days of Summer” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, Looper), Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man, Elf), Geoffrey Arend (Super Troopers, Garden State), Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Hugo), Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds [TV series], The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), Clark Gregg (The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D [TV series]), Patricia Belcher (The Number 23, Bones [TV series]), Rachel Boston (It’s a Disaster, Ghost of Girlfriends Past), and Minka Kelly (Just Go With It, Friday Night Lights [TV series]). It is directed by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man [2012], The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Tom (Gordon-Levitt) is a simple guy who has always believed that he will meet the girl of his dreams one day, and when he does, he’ll feel it. One day, while Tom is working his job at a greeting card factory, his boss gets a new assistant named Summer (Deschanel). Instantly he realizes that she is the one that he has been searching for his whole life, and as he gets to know her, it becomes more evident. The problem is, Summer doesn’t think the same way. All her life she has never believed in true love or fate, never wanting to get involved in a serious relationship. This film depicts 500 days that Tom and Summer go through together, detailing the ups, downs and reality of how true relationships work, and how one man wants to prove his belief right. This is not a love story, but a story about love.

I’ve heard quite a bit of good things about this film from people. Judging by the critics reviews, even the professionals enjoyed it. So, I decided to buy it and, looking at the poster and trailer, I thought it would be just another romantic comedy, but thankfully I was wrong. This is one of the most original romance movies I have ever seen and technically it isn’t even romance. What I mean by that is, yes this is a “boy meets girl” story, but it isn’t a love story. It took a while to convince me that throughout the movie until the last twenty minutes, which can be an issue, but overall I didn’t roll my eyes to anything like I usually would at romance films. Before I begin my take on the plot, I want to point something out: if you are a huge fan of the typical Hollywoodish love stories like what Hallmark provides, you are not going to enjoy this movie. It will go against everything in the book of how it should “typically” end and you will be left unsatisfied with having witnessed it. This is real life in a nutshell, not fantasy. Moving on, the way this story is set up is rather strange, but fresh. They don’t explain everything in order. The 500 days of time that this film consists of jumps around constantly. One minute you are at day 345 and the next you are at day 100. It takes more focus than I would want, but the way it plays out is magnificent. Everything fits in place towards the end and I especially love when the relationship takes a dip and you witness it when they pull up day 45 and then cut to day 167 (those aren’t the actual days, I’m just giving an explanation). Marc Webb is a genius of a director, especially with the flow of the whole story. Even the writers were great at knowing how to piece this together in a new way I haven’t seen before. You get to feel for these characters and the reality of true relationships because of it. Speaking of the characters, they are very relatable, mainly Tom. I am more like Tom when it comes to life, believing that there is someone out there for me and that I will realize it by fate sooner or later (enough with the sappyness already!). It makes it a better flick because the usual romantic comedies I watch tend to have characters that they try to relate to a broad audience, making them complicated to have a connection to. I was actually able to sit and view this film and want Tom to get what he wants, which is something no other romance movie does for me. Summer is a puzzle in herself and, although I am not like her, the writer helps me to understand instead of just creating a one-dimensional person. There is a lot to take from this movie and it surprised me at times. It had funny moments that I actually laughed at (like Tom’s dance number with street people), and it had twists and turns I didn’t see coming. It was unpredictable even though they relayed the future out in the beginning. While watching this film, I noticed that there wasn’t really any cons. I look for big ones instead of nitpicky ones, so even though I felt that this wasn’t a perfect film, I really couldn’t find any cons. It took until after I watched it to sum up one. Although it is very fast paced, some scenes felt unneeded, like one towards the end of a scene in black-and-white showing Tom and his friends talking about who they love. It was irrelevant in a way. Other than that though, this is an extremely well-crafted film. It is fun, quirky, relatable, and enjoyable that I am sure anyone who is tired of the cookie cutter romance movies will love! FINAL SCORE: 96%= Juicy Popcorn

This movie has been inducted into The Juicy Hall of Fame.

Here is the trailer: