Quick Review: (500) Days Of Summer

While "The Ugly Truth" follows a standard formula, "(500) Days Of Summer" is all over the place. The "500 days" in the title is literal. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is the woman that Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has fallen in love with. Tom's problem is that Summer doesn't believe in true love. The movie skips back and forth in time to different points in their relationship, both good and bad times, which keeps you wondering if there's a chance that they'll stay together. (Disclaimer: not all 500 days are shown in the film. Otherwise it'd be really long, and boring at times as well.) Tom's best friends and his younger sister, one of those way-too-mature-for-their-age little girls who are way too prevalent in films, are there to support him through it all. Deschanel seems to be making a habit of playing these quirky characters, and she does it well. However, Gordon-Levitt's excellent performance is the key. You feel his exuberance and his pain. He's becoming one of my favorite actors...although I'm not sure if that will be enough to get me into the theater to see the upcoming "G.I. Joe" movie that he's in. My grade: A-minus.