(500) Days of Summer

OK, so (500) Days of Summer came out about 150 days ago and I'm a little late on my review, but seeing Avatar in the theater was somewhat of a fluke - we watch 95% of our movies these days after they come out on Netflix. I really wanted to see this movie when it originally came out for a combination of reasons: I had heard it was a smart, creative romantic comedy, much like Juno (which I loved); I knew that the director had filmed the movie in Los Angeles, but tried to show L.A. from a different architectural perspective; and, I was curious to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who always shone as a young actor in 3rd Rock From The Sun, all grown up.

I wasn't disappointed. (500) Days of Summer is a well-acted, beautifully shot, original take on heartache and true love. A good romance is always enhanced by heartfelt music and the movie delivers with this as well, with a soundtrack that includes songs by Feist, Regina Spektor, and The Smiths.

Given how busy Toby and my life is these days with work and kids, it's always particularly refreshing to watch a movie in which the characters just focus on how they feel about love and the relationships in their life, even if it ends up in heartache. We've watched some other good movies in this vein recently as well - including Adventureland and Away We Go. It's been a long time since we have even had a day where we could just hang out and focus on nothing but our relationship with each other. Or even have a 10-minute uninterrupted conversation. Watching (500) Days of Summer reminded me of the days when we had first met - long breakfasts at The Magic Bean in Quito or jogs together through the park from our apartment in Glover Park. And it made me feel extremely thankful that our story hasn't been limited to 500 days.