With its recent addition to the streaming platform Hulu, the “not a love story” romantic comedy “(500) Days of Summer” is a must-watch movie.

In Los Angeles, 2009, Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a greeting card writer, reflects on his recently terminated relationship with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), an intern at the office. 

I’m not one who can criticize easily, and for this movie, I couldn’t find much to even criticize. Director Marc Webb has the plot unfold in a unique way, jumping around between showing the good, the bad, the beginning and the end to Tom and Summer’s relationship.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are both great actors, evident in “Inception” and “10 Things I Hate About You” for Gordon-Levitt, and “New Girl” for Deschanel. 

Their acting in “(500) Days of Summer” will keep a viewer engaged until the very end, causing one to feel as in-the-moment as they are through heavy silences after fights and innocent, young love tension when Tom’s crush is revealed to Summer.

One aspect of the movie I found overtly interesting was Webb’s use of a monologue, spoken by Gordon-Levitt’s character; about 150 days in, Tom goes on about what he loves about Summer– her smile, hair, knees, a birthmark, etc. It then jumps to 300 days in, and, with the exact same scene, Tom goes on about what he now hates about Summer– her crooked teeth, 1960s haircut, knobby knees, the splotch on her neck, etc.

Demonstrated through Gordon-Levitt’s acting, this film advocates to avoid having one’s happiness be dependent on another. We can see Tom go from a bright, upbeat personality to a dull, gloomy shell of a person– all from how much he relied on Summer. 

Intended for a more mature audience, this film is rated PG-13 for sexual references and mild profanity. The non-excessive use of profanity truly highlights the emotion of the scenes in which it is used.

Although some may argue that this film had flaws, I could only see qualities that made it worth watching. Also available on platforms like Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, “(500) Days of Summer” is one to see.