Hip, Smug and Hopelessly Self-Absorbed

“(500) Days of Summer� is a quirky but ultimately irritating update of the “Annie Hall� sort of smug, hipster love story. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) writes greeting cards and is obsessed with British pop music. He meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and falls hopelessly in love, and hey, he’s got the soundtrack.

Summer’s not quite so hot to trot, at least not into any sort of lasting relationship, and the audience endures the ups and downs of Tom’s infatuation.

I say “endures� because the film is clever. Director Marc Webb has created a pastiche of hip, pop-culture references and cinematic gimmicks. It’s effective, up to a point. Tom’s post-coital dance scene is genuinely amusing.

And there’s a mildly humorous scene where the couple play house at an Ikea store that will appeal to anyone who has found himself (or herself) actually Moving In Together (While Still Poor).

But after a while the cleverness pales. Summer says it best when she compares the couple to Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungeon, over pancakes. (Oh, for a violent spatula scene to give this thing some juice.)

Tom is, ultimately, a tiresome weenie. His self-centeredness is profoundly banal. He wants to be an architect. He loves The Smiths. And he thinks Summer can get him over the hump of whatever future he’s imagined for himself.

Summer’s character exists only as a foil, what with films about self-important and isolated greeting-card writers not being high up on anyone’s list of Films To Make.  It’s an imbalance that overrides the occasionally sparkling dialogue and the grab bag of cinematic tricks from Webb. It’s never clear just what she sees in him, besides a shared taste in pop music.

But this is Tom’s movie. It is clear (to us) that Summer is big trouble for this kid, even if he can’t see it. And we can’t fathom the reasons behind Summer’s behavior, because the film doesn’t tell us.

Which might be the point, but if it is, it’s too subtle for me.

People who throw around words like “ironic� and “random� will probably like this lightweight exercise in pathos, but if I have to watch an “anti-love story,� I’ll start with “Notorious� and move on from there. This ain’t it.

“(500) Days of Summer� is rated PG-13 for sexual material and language. It is playing at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY.