Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in a scene from (500) Days of Summer.

FILM: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
REVIEWED BY ADAM KAMIEN

IT shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that (500) Days of Summer has gone gangbusters. All the ingredients for a sleeper indie hit are present and correct, from the pop culture references and low budget, to “it” actors in the starring roles and outsider quirks aplenty.

Even director Mark Webb is making his feature debut after cutting his teeth on –- you guessed it -– music videos.

But like almost all of the interminable parade of indie sleeper hits to go before it, when stripped of its stilted idiosyncrasies, narrative tricks and flood of alt-pop nods, a total lack of substance is revealed.

(500) Days of Summer goes even further into the mire, utilising the lazy device of a narrator to reinforce plot points, just in case you don’t get the point.
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