Does the recent debasement of the romantic comedy make this mope-rock cover version of Annie Hallseem somewhat better than it actually is? Perhaps. Anybody still picking rancid lumps of The Ugly Truthfrom his or her teeth is bound to feel overly forgiving towards an entry to the genre that doesn't actually make the stomach turn.
That’s unfair. Despite its clever-clever title and its excess of indie self-satisfaction, Marc Webb’s debut has an integrity and charm that should win over even the most cynical viewer. Constantly on the prowl for new ways of telling an old story, the picture doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the word complacency. Why, it’s like
Bride Wars
never happened.
Littered with music by the likes of The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian and The Pixies, the picture finds the Taylor and Burton of contemporary independent cinema – nervy Joseph Gordon-Levitt and self-confident Zooey Deschanel – playing a couple of nice young people falling in and of love in the prettier parts of Los Angeles.
Tom (Gordon-Levitt) works as a writer for a greeting-card manufacturer, but has vague ambitions to build upon his qualifications as an architect. Summer (Deschanel) has a job as the boss’s assistant and seems reasonably happy to drift untethered through life. She certainly doesn’t want a serious relationship and when, after some months of pining on Tom’s part, the two hook up, she makes it clear that he need not expect to be settling down in the suburbs any time soon.
The film’s most conspicuous innovation is a counter at the corner of the screen that registers how far along we are in the relationship’s 500-day history. By rendering the story out of chronological order, the writers find a way of imposing tension on a very familiar narrative arc. Why is Summer scowling at a picture of Ringo Starr? We’ll learn later, when we see what happened earlier.
None of this hanky-panky would, however, be to any worthwhile end if the two principles did not generate such lively chemistry. Feeding on Joseph's squashed charm and Zooey's poised insouciance, the romance progresses from – referencing the couple's favourite band – Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Meto Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Nowwithout showing any signs of Panic. DC
