500 Days of Summer

I had to wait a whole month to get a response to my request for a good old-fashioned comedy, but the amazing thing is that there was a response at all (good comedies are so incredibly rare these days). 500 Days of Summer, directed by Marc Webb, is the exact opposite of The Hangover (see below). Instead of a stupid lewd unfunny comedy with an idiotic excuse for a plot (The Hangover), we have a wonderful, original, warm and funny romantic comedy with a real story which even gives some thought to one of my favourite subjects – coincidences. This non-Hollywood comedy features great acting, great dialogue, brilliant editing, tight direction, and an ending so good it’s worth a star by itself. The story jumps all over the place but that works perfectly in a thoughtful comedy like this (not to mention that it’s a nice original idea). There are references to other films and genres and styles, and they all work perfectly too.

But that’s not to say that the film is perfect (as a perfectionist, I demand a lot). 500 Days of Summer does drag here and there – you can’t sustain a comedy about a relationship like this indefinitely. So normally I would give this film a solid ***+, but because it’s a romcom I actually liked (romcoms is among my least favourite genres) and because of the great ending, this gem gets a whopping ****. Watch it, and stay away from the rest.

Note: I’m busy busy busy these days, so of course I’m seeing five films at the cinema in six days – that’s the way my life works. Stay tuned.