(500) Days Of Summer (12) Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Chloe Grace Moretz, Clark Gregg, Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler Tom (Gordon-Levitt) has always nurtured a passion for architecture and he is transfixed by New York’s concrete jungle.
During the day, Tom writes platitudes in greetings cards, impressing his boss Vance (Gregg) and co-workers McKenzie (Arend) and Paul (Gubler) by finding the perfect phrase for every occasion. Humdrum routine changes forever with the arrival of Vance’s new assistant, Summer (Deschanel). Tom is smitten and within days of the new girl starting, the copywriter tells McKenzie and Paul confidently: “It’s official. I’m in love with Summer.” However, the courtship doesn’t quite match up to Tom’s old-fashioned ideals and he seeks guidance from his sister Rachel (Moretz).
As the 500 days unfold in seemingly random order, Tom comes to realise that while Summer might be perfect for him, he’s not her Mr Right Now.
(500) Days Of Summer is a quirky relationship comedy distinguished by strong performances from the two leads, especially Gordon-Levitt as a dreamer who emerges battered and bruised from the emotional wringer.
Director Marc Webb conjures some interludes that take the breath away, like Day 408 when the narrator confides: “This time he believed his expectations would align with reality,” referring to the lovesick hero’s misplaced optimism.
The screen splits - Tom’s expectations on the left, sobering reality on the right - and we see the disparity between the two, set to Regina Spektor’s elegiac ballad Hero.
From the opening frames, we’re acutely this is no fairytale but the heartbreak here tastes pleasantly bittersweet.
A Perfect Getaway (15) Starring: Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez, Chris Hemsworth, Marley Shelton Struggling Hollywood screenwriter Cliff (Zahn) and his pretty wife Cydney (Jovovich) arrive on Hawaii for their honeymoon and encounter the menacing Kale (Hemsworth) and his girlfriend Cleo (Shelton). Further down the road, Cliff and Cydney meet picture perfect lovebirds Nick (Olyphant) and Gina (Sanchez), who seem too good to be true.
The tropical idyll is rocked by news of brutal murders and a police hunt for a man and a woman, believed to have perpetrated the heinous crimes.
Cliff and Cydney fear the killers are one of the couples they have encountered along the way. As the newlyweds venture deeper into the jungle, unable to get a signal on their mobile phones, paranoia and fear gradually take hold.
A Perfect Getaway doesn’t quite live up to its title but this is a polished genre piece that keeps us guessing until the final act when all of the pent-up tension explodes with an action-packed finale and the spilling of copious blood.
When David Twohy’s grand design is revealed, we’re forced to admit that we’ve been hoodwinked.
Funny People (15) Starring: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann Stand-up comic turned actor George Simmons (Sandler) is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia so he hires wet-behind-the-ears Ira Wright (Rogen) to pen gags for him.
Funny People is a grand bore, pitching for laughs at the expense of plausibility.
There’s no way that George would hire a no mark like Ira and we’re perplexed to understand how beautiful and self-assured ex Laura could ever have fallen in love with a schmuck like him.