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RATING:   
SINGAPORE: Music video director Marc Webb's oftentimes cloying, heart-on-sleeve, non-love story has all the ingredients in place: An "inventive" non-linear plot, two loveable actors with indie cred (Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt), at least one "look at me, I'm thinking out of the box!" moment (an out-of-the-blue dance sequence in public), a Pitchfork-heavy soundtrack (The Smiths, Feist, Doves, Regina Spektor), and tonnes of nudge-nudge, wink-wink "smart" references (Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini, oooh ... ).
And let's not forget a younger sister who's wise beyond her age.
There are enough inspired twists, but the gimmicky approach at times feels overly calculating and self-conscious. And Gordon-Levitt, whom we like by the way, is just too whiney.
To be fair, it's not just the presence of Deschanel that would make us begrudgingly recommend "500 Days Of Summer" as an option for a date movie (although that in itself should be incentive enough).
It is fun, quirky and way better than most of standard Hollywood romantic comedies. It's just another "Juno", is all we're saying. - TODAY/sh
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