Sam Eagers  wishes the lead character would strap on a pair… 

 ”Literally all the funny parts were included in the trailer..”

I have never been the greatest subscriber to rom-coms, hiding a secret hatred for Hugh ‘I’m going to do something new – a romantic comedy’ Grant. Hugh Grant is the sole reason why reviews call this film ‘original and refreshing’ – because they’ve all been bored to death through repetition. The film is a story of a 500 day relationship with a girl called Summer, and from the outset we are told it is destined to fail. My top tip though is to either watch either the trailers or the film, not both. Literally all the funny parts were included the trailer – and so the laughs were a let down by seeing them twice. On the whole, despite some originality, the film was overshadowed by smugness. 

Smugness in this film is prominent everywhere. It emerges through the process of slating romantic clichés, then promptly turning around and using romantic clichés. It also shows through the unnaturally deep narrators voice, stating how this isn’t your ‘typical love story’ – virtually every time he has the opportunity to speak. This smugness makes the film less ‘cute’, as is it’s intention, and more annoying. The main redeeming feature against this smugness is the overall originality. Not being predictable makes it bearable at least, and jumping between different days of Summer was quite funny at points, despite it feeling like the director used an Ipod shuffle. 

My biggest gripe is the lead roles for the film. Both of them are really annoying. Apart from having a silly name, Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is supposed to be the villain of the piece – evident from the intro – “Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely accidental … Especially Jenny Beckman … Bitch”. She comes across as airy, but can be forgiven for being strangely attractive. Nevertheless, this is nothing compared to Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Tom is such a wuss that even the 11 year old girl he consults for advice mocks him. You desperately want Mr T to run through a wall, throw chocolate at Tom, whilst yelling ‘get some nuts!’ Unfortunately this does not happen, and so you are forced to listen to Tom whining and pining over love lost and won, in a film that is half an hour too long – with the single most annoying ending line ever.

 If you like this, you’ll enjoy… Sadism.

Sam Eagers