(500) Days of Summer and my movie bankruptcy

I’m declaring movie bankruptcy!  I’ve always been fond of the idea of email bankruptcy and am declaring a version of it in regards to movies.  Since my last update, way long ago, I’ve seen many movies, of which I wanted share (e.g. “District 9”) but never got around to.  I still may get to writing up some of them (although don’t hold your breath), but I’m wiping the slate clean and just moving forward with the movie I’ve most recently seen “(500) Days of Summer.”

This is a good good movie, although I have a feeling I’m right in the target demographic.  With a soundtrack sporting Regina Spektor, Smiths and Feist, I’m a bit biased.  Not so much because I like the music (although I do) but because the type of person to like that music is the type of person to create a movie that I like.  Or perhaps not, but that is how the main character thinks.  The tag line is “This is not a love story. This is a story about love.”  IMHO, this is a smart, well done film that is very aware of romantic comedies but is just to the side of one.  It plays to conventions and with conventions.  The characters are well fleshed out and not two-dimensional.  The female lead (Summer) is less so, but that is because we’re experiencing the movie through the male lead’s perspective.  (And when push comes to shove, we are exposed to her well-rounded, non-wish fulfillment side.)  Oh, did I mention it has one of my favorite storytelling modes: non-linearity.  The ‘Day of Summer’ pops up to mark the time, and the sequence jumps forward and back, telling the story very well.  I even have to give a shout-out to the trailer makers.  Most of the content of the trailers I saw (which I was a little concerned gave too much away) comes from the first ten minutes of the film.  So, for the romantic comedy genre I give it a 9.5.  Overall, it is probably an 8.  Quite enjoyable.