Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

©2009 Twentieth Century Fox

This is what happens when you toss out all the clichés and connivances that make most romantic comedies so tedious. There’s no happily-ever-after. We know this because it starts at the end of the 500-day romance between Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and explains, from his baffled viewpoint, how things went south. To him, she is The One. To her, he’s the one for now. The movie unfolds in a non-linear structure, which, when you think about it, is how such things are remembered. A smart screenplay, excellent chemistry and an Annie Hall vibe make this all believable. A pleasure.