I have been waiting for this since I saw its trailer after it has gone to several film festivals.Being a lover of lovey dovey films, i was sure i won't be let down by this film! Though i must say,it turned out to be more than what i expected-a rather honest depiction of today's romance. Gone are the days when a boy meets girl,fall in love,get married and live happily ever after.
The narrator warns us in his funny voice that this is not a love story and it actually is much more than that. I loved the way the film progresses,the director chose to make it interesting by showing us the days in the bracket,1 being the day he first met her.The film doesn't move chronologically but is rather random,jumbling from forward to backward at times.
Summer is the new assitant of Tom's boss and he likes her from the first day.Its a modern take on romance where Summer(Zooey Deschanel) doesnt believe in the existence of love while Tom is madly in love with her.Summer lets him know that she isn't looking for anything serious and Tom accepts her terms.As they start hanging out more and spend more quality and intimate moments together,Tom is confused what she really means by being only friends when she is actually doing everything a girlfriend would do with her boyfriend. At a certain point,he just can't take it anymore and starts asking questions.
The film is really well written and nicely edited.It never feels out of sorts despite the juggling of days and sequences.Post their breakup,the film becomes slightly static but picks up once they meet again by chance in a train compartment after a few months.
Its upto you to find out how the film ends.For me,the last 20 minutes took the film to a different level altogether.Everything was so wonderfully explained and the writers didn't compromise one bit of their dream and went ahead with a very strong ending indeed.
The characters are real and so are the performances.Both the protagonists are fantastic.I would say that Tom goes through more emotionally and credit must go to Joseph Gardon for being every bit of the character.He makes you feel for the character.Zooey is charming as Summer.She is certainly one young actress to look out for(loved her work in Yes Man as well).
This is a great film with an original script and therein lies its strength.The film digs in deep into today's definition of love and relationships,digs deep into the personalities of youth- who are afraid to follow their dreams and is somehow unaware of love.
Don't dare to miss this one!
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Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Good Acting, Good Script, An Okay Film Disadvantages: Something is missing, the film was too jumpy and confusing. It should have worked and it didn't
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