"All My Memories from High School are from Tonight"

I Love You, Beth Cooper is a lot like high school. It starts out with promise, fizzles out into the same old thing in the middle, but manages to turn bittersweet by the end. Its certainly not going to become required high school experience watching (like The Breakfast Club) but its no Not Another Teen Movie, either.

The plot (based on the hilarious book by Larry Doyle, who penned the screenplay) is pretty simple – and familiar. Dennis Cooverman (Paul Rust) is the stereotypical geeky high school valedictorian, who has had a major jones for Beth Cooper (Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere, who I would love to see cast as someone who isn’t a cheerleader, because I think she may have some actual acting chops if she could ever show them), who is also the typical high school hottie – cheerleader, blonde and a stupid boyfriend.

Inspired by the advice of his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) and burdened with the knowledge he’s about to leave school behind, having never spoken to Beth, Dennis declares in his speech that he, well, loves Beth Cooper.

Embarrassed but flattered, Beth and her two token cheerleader friends actually show up to Dennis’ extremely lame graduation party, but a jealous boyfriend follows, which leads to a night of being chased around by punks, awkward sex jokes, and ultimately, the heart-warming affirmation that this geek is the one who is really ahead in life.

Like I said, same old story. The beginning, with its awkwardness, but positive affirmation about saying what you never could say actually has some promise, and if the movie had followed this line, it could have had a much larger impact. In the middle, however, it falls into the same jokes audiences have seen ad nauseam.

Surprisingly, even though the end is pretty predictable and has its share of clichés, when Rust and Panettiere finally get alone together and talk, and both take off the mantles of the roles they play in the high school hierarchy, there’s some genuine human connection. The two play earnest and confused well, and you actually understand why Dennis would fall for Beth.

The book – as is always the case when the book came first – is better than the movie, but its disappointing because since the author is overseeing the transfer, one would hope that he would be able to transfer more of the subtle humour and teenage angst that were so well done in his book.

I Love You, Beth Cooper, isn’t going to knock anybody out of the park, but if you can make it to the end, you might just see a tinge of wit and humanity. There are worse ways to end a picture.

"Its love, not Santa Claus"

Give it up for a cinematic love story that’s not afraid to explore all the nuances of love – both the joy and the heartache – using two believable, relatable characters. In an age of over-dramatized soap flicks or callous one-nighter movies, (500) Days of Summer is the sunlight breaking through the clouds.

The story owes a large debt to films like The Graduate (which gets name-checked several times in the film, in fantastic ways) than to the typical list of romantic comedies. Being a major romantic myself, it added another layer of enjoyment to the film that it’s the male lead who is the more lovesick. This doesn’t pop up as much in cinema as I would like, and whenever it does, it right away sets the film off from its peers.

Said male lead in Summer is Tom (one of today’s best working actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who gets perhaps one of the greatest introductions on film in a while, from the movie’s narrator: “Tom Hansen of New Jersey, grew up believing he’d never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total misread of the movie, The Graduate.” When Tom meets Summer (the enchanting Zooey Deschanel) at the office where he works writing greeting cards, be believes that day has come.

What follows is the story of their relationship, told Memento-style, jumping around chronologically, as they go from boy-meets-girl, down the familiar relationship path, with some major hitches in the road. The biggest being that Summer doesn’t believe in love, or in “being anyone’s anything.” Still, Tom breaks down her walls as their story progresses, but as the narrator warns, “this is not a love story. This is a story about love.”

You’ll have to watch the film to see what the actual difference is, and its no fair spoiling the ending, but what viewers get is a much more in-depth examination of all that goes along with being in love than most movies provide. There’s the brutality of going back in one’s mind in an attempt to find the moment things started to sour, the complete and utter difference between reality and expectations when one sees their ex again, and of course, the joys of first getting together. Audiences will be hard-pressed to find a movie that more accurately describes being in love.

Major props go out to director Marc Webb and writers Scott Neustadler and Michael H. Weber for crafting a film that allows visuals to take the place of dialogue in describing how a character feels – the dancing scene after Tom and Summer’s first night together is one of the purest expressions of joy on film of the summer.

Of course, the real power of the film is Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel, who join John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph from Away We Go, as two actors who bring everything to the table in their portrayals of being a couple. Deschanel is at her quirkiest and most charming, and she’s never looked lovelier. It’s a no-brainer why Tom falls for her from word one. Gordon-Levitt continues his streak of fantastic performances bringing all manner of wit and heartache to Tom. These two make you believe in their love, the way the classic movie couples did. The film feels less like something that was written, and more like videos of real life, their acting is so vibrant.

Summer is winding down and Autumn’s on the way, but there’s no better way to catch some of the last summer joy than (500) Days of Summer. Its one for the ages.

Summer Music Recommends

Here's a bunch of albums that came out right around the summer, and I haven't had a chance to write full reviews of. There's little blurbs under them, but they're all worthwhile!

Swoon - Silversun Pickups
Fuzzy guitars and pounding lyrics make for a great grey day record.



Together Through Life - Bob Dylan
The master songwriter goes south of the border for a little Mexicali-Blues.



Summer of Hate - Crocodiles
Waves of guitar reverb make for the best album from a Jesus and Mary Chain follower in years.



21st Century Breakdown - Green Day
The best rock album of the year, and a great example of Quadrophenia-esque rock concept albums.



Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band
One of the DMB's best efforts yet, and a fine example of how they can mix musical styles into a cohesive and engaging mix.



Secret, Profane & Sugarcane - Elvis Costello
Costello takes a break from his punk rock roots to delve into Americana roots, straight out of Appalachia.



Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix
The only pop-punk album you'll find that name checks a half-ton of 19th Century composers.



White Lies for Dark Times - Ben Harper and the Relentless7
Harper steps away from his more experimental records for a Hendrix-style guitar based jammer.



Back & Fourth - Pete Yorn
Yorn hasn't made a consistently decent record since his debut, but he nails it on his fourth effort.



Sunny Side Up - Paolo Nutini
Nutini takes everything from Scottish ballads to reggae beats for a great summer mix of styles.



Electric Dirt - Levon Helm
The Band's drummer releases the best album The Grateful Dead never made, only better.



City of Black & White - Mat Kearney
Kearney abandons the weird Brit-rap from his debut and sticks with the gorgeous ballads that work best.



Wilco (The Album) - Wilco
Another album from Wilco in the vein of Sky Blue Sky, Wilco gives fans a great alt. country record.



Manners - Passion Pit
An amazing mix of punk and dance-techno, this may well be the catchiest release of the summer.



Bible Belt - Diane Birch
Birch is a more old-school soul version of Cat Power, and her album sounds like something right out of the Mississippi delta.