‘(500) Days of Summer’ is a huge breath of fresh air in a genre more cliche-ridden than any other: the romantic comedy. It’s still a basic boy-meets-girl story but it’s in a class all its own. ’500 Days of Summer’ is the story of Tom, who is looking for love and Summer, who doesn’t believe in love. The film jumps back and forth during the 500 days they are together, detailing the highs and lows of their friendship.

The film occasionally breaks the fourth wall, using an array of gimmicks, including one scene where the screen divides into two, displaying Tom’s expectations next to what actually happens. A song-and-dance sequence in the middle of L.A. is really fun. Similar to the Woody Allen comedy ‘Annie Hall’, theres enough plot twists and devices to keep it fresh and inventive, but they never get in the way of the story, they never get distracting.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel play the two lovers, Tom and Summer, both with charisma and charm. Levitt in particular is fantastic, who is giddy, but thoughtful and occasionally heartbroken. Zooey Deschanel is sort of impossible not to adore, she’s sort of been tuning the exact same dry, witty character to perfection since 2003′s ‘Elf’.

The film would have seemed cold and calculated had the characters not been so lovable – which essentially means that the actors are anchoring the film away from disaster. The film would have been a fiasco had the actors not had the charisma to handle the comedy, the depth to handle the drama, and simply if they didn’t have chemistry with each other. Luckily, both of the lead actors possess these three qualities and the film is great because of it.

‘(500) Days of Summer’ isn’t just another breezy, forgettable summer comedy. It’s got great acting, a hilarious script and doesn’t feel as calculated as all the other romantic comedies of the year. A-