Summer days, drifting away...

Review: (500) Days of Summer

Remember those commercials where a man waltzes outside and the sky, the leaves on the trees, the whole block bursts into cheerful abundance? Director Marc Webb returns again and again in (500) Days of Summer to a monochrome architectural sketch of a city expanse that, as the hero's mood brightens, fills out with greens and blues. The Smiths' mellow comfort rock gently nudges us toward indie Fantasyland with "There is a Light that Never Goes Out."

But the film's too smart for that platitude. When the relationship at the heart of this not-a-love-story wavers, the watercolors in the trees fade to gray. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber's nonlinear screenplay covers the ebb and flow between Tom and Summer. Yes, it's the type of movie with two meanings for "Summer." This split carries throughout a film that examines distance; one clever vignette plays Tom's expectations in splitscreen with the reality of a dispiriting dinner party.

Just as Tom falls madly for Summer, the film can't resist lusting after the romantic comedies that have come before. A useless narrator is present for ironic distance. But the fragrant musk of Annie Hall and The Graduate scents each snatch of dialogue between the leads. Postmodern film, of course, almost demands cobbling together bits and pieces of pop culture that the audience can check off. Simon and Garfunkel, IKEA, sweater vests? Check. Ultimately the film surrenders to the witchcraft it tries to shirk. It is a love story. One that ends on an ambivalent chartreuse color, like Woody Allen did in the '70s.

The script keeps dialogue sharp, to the point. Not too cute or desperately indie. Though there can be a sour cherry, like Tom's overwrought anti-establishment breakdown over sappy greeting cards ("What is love?"), Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes each moment with honesty and underplayed humor. He anchors the film, keeping even self-destruction fresh by not succumbing to the zombie-robot emoting Zach Braff used in Garden State. Zooey Deschanel does have some of that Natalie Portman vibe. She's refreshing because she keeps quirky tics to a minimum. The camera seems enraptured by her wide eyes and cascading bangs. Their openness as actors goes a long way toward (500) Days' endurance. If we're lucky, its pleasures won't fade from our memories when fall comes.