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Why You Need to See (500) Days of Summer (Especially If You Hate ZD)

First off, if you don't want to know anything about the movie, as I wouldn't you can stop reading once this paragraph breaks. All you need to know is that you should see this movie because Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives the best performance I've seen all year in it. Many people have told me they don't want to see the movie because they don't like Zooey Deschanel. Let me tell you something: If you don't like that girl, go see this movie. A part of me thinks that part of the reason they cast her might have been because of how many people don't like her--and that's all I'm going to say. See the movie. For those of you who have already seen it and want to discuss certain points of it with me, read on...

INTO THE SPOILER ZONE

















SPOILER ZONE

First off, I have some criticism of the movie. It is the most blatant Annie Hall knock-off I have ever seen. People who say it's our generation's Annie Hall are wrong. It's simply Annie Hall. That being said, as a knock-off, it's the best knock-off of Annie Hall I've ever seen. And I can appreciate that people are once again trying to knock off Annie Hall rather than knock off When Harry Met Sally.

There are things, of course, that Annie Hall got right that this movie didn't. For one thing, you understood why Alvie like Annie. Diane Keaton was quirky, but in a much different way than Zooey Deschanel--as in, Diane Keaton could actually act. At the end of the movie, you're actually sad things didn't work out with the two main characters in Annie Hall. In this movie, you understand why they can't be together. So maybe it achieved something in that. Casting ZD--an actress who's made a name for herself by being the "It" girl when everyone outside of Hollywood seems to be saying "Why is she the It Girl?" and then having you grow to dislike her throughout the movie is really smart--if that was the purpose of casting her. If not, it still worked.

The last dialogue between them on the bench was so hurtful because it was so true. It's frustrating, but very real. I could never say I felt the movie wasn't real, which I think is a great accomplishment.

At the same time, I wanted Summer to address the fact that there was something wrong with her. I don't buy the whole 'Meet the right person and you'll be made right' argument. I think it's unhealthy to even suggest that that's possible--even if it is.

The ending line: I loved it. I know it was a tad cute, but it worked.

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