Directed by: Marc Webb
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
Rating: PG-13

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel star in (500) Days of Summer. (Courtesy photo)

Sometimes you can tell from the very first trailer you see that you’re going to fall in love with a movie. Really love it, enough to pine over it and return to it regularly for the rest of your life. I could tell from the trailer that (500) Days of Summer was just such a movie. From the perfect leads to the irresistible soundtrack to the sweet and clever dialogue, I knew a long romance was going to blossom when I saw it. Then I saw it.

It turns out (500) Days of Summer and I are just going to be friends. It’s not a bad movie. It’s very enjoyable, boasting marvelous performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, and it does have that awesome soundtrack. But awesome soundtracks aren’t the hard part of making a thoughtful, offbeat love story. What’s missing is the offbeat part. (500) Days of Summer is actually a pretty typical romantic comedy told in a slightly atypical order or events. There is a medium-sized exception, which is the insistence that this is not a love story. And that’s (sort of) true, except that it also (sort of) isn’t. Summer is proof that an above-average romantic comedy can still be viewed as treasure just by moving a few parts around.

Gordon-Levitt is Tom, a nice, quietly intense guy who writes greeting cards. Deschanel is Summer, the adorable new assistant that everyone is smitten by. They flirt—her effortlessly, him awkwardly—and she makes it clear she’s not looking for anything serious. Then they embark on something that certainly seems serious. When Summer holds true to her original statement and breaks up with Tom, he’s devastated, and tries desperately to figure out why she did it and how to get her back.

If you’re a movie lover and don’t know Joseph Gordon-Levitt yet, rest assured you will soon. The unexceptional kid from Third Rock from the Sun is now one the most dynamic and surprising young talents in the business. If you want to get a sense of this guy’s range and depth, see Mysterious Skin (2004), Brick (2005), and The Lookout (2007). If you want to see what a true leading man he can be, look no further than (500) Days of Summer. I think the main reason many critics are somewhat inflating this movie’s value is because Gordon-Levitt gives such a committed, multi-layered performance. The other reason is Zooey Deschanel. She’s an ideal counter to his intensity. Deschanel (Elf, All the Real Girls) might easily be dismissed as a kooky personality more than a real actor, but that would be a mistake. Deschanel does not have the range of Gordon-Levitt, but she has the ability to make her particularly delightful awkwardness irresistible. The two of them make a very appealing couple. The rest of the cast isn’t up to their level. Geoffrey Arend (Trust Me) and Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) are both movie-silly as Tom’s best friends. They’re likable enough guys, but they tug at the film’s veneer of authenticity.

Writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber do show flashes of real creativity and relationship insight, just not at much as is advertised. They’ll write better scripts, and first-timer Marc Webb will direct better films. There are a fair number of scenes that play like dress rehearsals, where the supporting cast seems a little self-conscious. And Webb borrows a bit too heavily from his idols, though he just as often pulls it off.

(500) Days of Summer evokes Memento in its structure, the mystery being Summer herself. Of course what makes girls like Summer so baffling is inseparable from what makes them so alluring. They can’t be solved. That much is effective, more so than the okay attempt at a final catharsis. Summer’s real antecedent is the superior Annie Hall, which not only pulled off this kind of structure but also managed to make a great love story out of a breakup. Like Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, Zooey Deschanel here pulls off the most important trick in making (500) Days of Summer work: whether or not Tom wins her heart in the end, she’s most definitely worth the effort.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.