The feature-film debut of music video director Marc Webb is a flouncy romantic comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (best known for 1990s sci-fi sitcom Third Rock from the Sun) as Tom, a wannabe architect working as a greetings card writer, who falls in and out of love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a beautiful if mercurial woman who starts work as his boss's secretary. The film jumps backwards and forwards in time throughout our hero's 500-day infatuation with Summer, who unfortunately for Tom firmly refuses to believe in love. Gordon-Levitt's soft-hearted, love-struck performance is heartbreaking to watch - although it is played mostly for comedy - and really demonstrates how confused a man in love can get. However, Webb's offbeat direction is occasionally disjointed, giving the appearance of a movie made up of a string of short films spliced together. The idea of analysing a relationship at different points in time is certainly fresh and interesting, but the director's inability to control the pace means the end result is a bit twee.

Tom, greeting-card writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely off-guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went sour, and in doing so, Tom rediscovers his true passions in life.