Christmas Countdown: Top 25 Movies of 2009 – No.16

Sometimes a movie comes along unexpectedly and takes you on a journey of wonderful emotion. My choice today is one such movie. A heart-warming/heart-breaking look at love that should be corny as a flour-mill but somehow isn’t. Instead it wraps you up tight in a blanket of rich emotion and warmth and leaves you feeling better off for the experience.

Number 16 is…

A quirky non-linear romantic-comedy (500) Days of Summer tells the story of Tom, an aspiring architect who earns his living as a writer for a greeting card company. Unlucky in love Tom believes he has finally found the one when the beautiful new secretary, Summer, starts work. Although she initially appears to be out of his league the pair strike up a rapport, built on common interests in the music of The Smiths and a love of surrealist artist Magritte. Pretty soon Tom is head-over-heels for the girl, but unfortunately she isn’t for him. Summer doesn’t believe in love, thinking it something for fairy-tales and movies. It is up to Tom to win her round before losing her forever.

Why it is worthy: Not your typical rom-com (500) Days of Summer starts at the end and jumps back and forth in time, splicing good memories with bad. Think of it as a romantic Memento, spliced with a dash of American Beauty and a sprinkle of fairy-dust. That the movie is fit to be used a sentence with those two greats is a result of the two leads. Culch favourite Zooey Deschanel is an enigmatic presence at the best of times and here she adds the slightest touch of independence to her usual kooky style. She is a smart, confident, sweet person who doesn’t need a man like Tom to help define who she is. The character is a far cry from the damsel in distress that rom-com’s usually focus on. Joseph Gordon Levitt, who can give as fine a performance as any actor of his generation (see Brick), is on top of his game. His portrayal of Tom is very real, he’s instantly a believable, likeable guy, who you honestly want to see get the girl. Like a young Tom Hanks Levitt wonderfully portrays the emotions running just below the surface of his character, all fear, angst, hope and joy. Director Marc Webb is so confident in his lead pair, and the strength of Michael H. Weber’s witty script, that he risks inserting parodies of Fellini, black-and-white scenes and small musical numbers. None distract and all add to the playfulness of the movie’s tone. The background music, a mix of pop-tracks, and the colour palette are wonderfully used to convey the passage of time and emotion in this relationship.

Fatal flaws: Some of it is clichéd, but then no rom-com isn’t. A lot of it will seem whimsical and very, very self-indulgent. At times it tries just a little too hard to be cool, an Annie Hall for the 00′s. The non-linear sequence can be grating at times, as you don’t know quite how they ease from one period to another. It’s a movie that revolves all around Tom, sometimes to the detriment of the other characters. Almost everything is portrayed as his saw it or as he remembered it, meaning that you never really know if what you’re seeing is true. Opening at the end means that you know what is going to happen, so the entire movie from that point is simply explaining how they got there. Ultimately not one of these matters as the movie transcends them all to become of of the most heart-warming and genuine looks at love in years.

Verdict: Light, warm, funny and endlessly charming this is as fine a romantic-comedy as anyone could wish for.

Oh and Darren liked it too.