"Ringo is my favourite Beatle."

This line sums up the film perfectly.

But let's go back. Waaaaaaay back. Back to a time when some Hollywood mastermind decided to market this film as 'this generation's Annie Hall.'
This was always going to annoy me but it's only fair to give these things the benefit of the doubt.

The thing is, I love Annie Hall. I have watched it once a month, every month, for the last five or so years. It's brilliant. The one thing that I don't like in the film is the person that Annie eventually becomes. If I'm honest, I don't like her that much at the end of the film. She's a bit annoying. But it's supposed to be like that. You love her at the beginning; she is different and quirky and off-beat.
So you forgive her at the end anyway.

Zooey Deschanel's character, Summer Finn, starts where Annie left off.
So, from the very start, I didn't like her.

And she just got worse.
I didn't want Tom - played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt - to get with her. (If he hadn't been in this film I may have switched off part way through.)

So I started to tell myself, 'It's not Zooey Deschanel, it's just this horrendous character she is playing. I liked her in Almost Famous and. . . . er. . . . um. . . . .'
I am all for watching or reading about a character that is or should be unlikable, but, for some reason, you end up siding with them. Unfortunately, there isn't anything redeeming about Summer Finn. The fact that she doesn't want a boyfriend as a result of her parents getting a divorce when she was younger seems a but flimsy, a little obvious.

I like the fact that Tom has some romantic sense of fate and perfect love as a result of 60s music and The Graduate movie. But it seems a little 'too cool' that he and Summer first bond over a mutual respect for The Smiths' music. This is the point he realises she is 'the one.'

And, I think this was my overall problem with the movie.
It was trying way too hard to be cool and quirky.
The voiceover to set the story would only really work in a) French/European Cinema and it has already been used to great effect in Amelie, which it was clearly trying to imitate or b) a film that did not take itself seriously, like The Mating Habits of The Earthbound Human.
Unfortunately, this film is neither of these.
The part where Tom bursts into song and a cartoon bluebird lands on his shoulder is funny for a nano-second but it is quirk for quirk's sake.

Summer says, 'Ringo is my favourite Beatle.'
Tom says, 'Ringo isn't anyone's favourite Beatle.'
Summer responds, 'That's why.'

(I paraphrase, of course, but the sentiment is there.)
Essentially, the film follows this same idea. 'Nobody would put a dance sequence here, it would be idiotic.'
'That's why we did it.'

It all felt a bit forced and like it was trying too hard to be different and edgy, but predominantly quirky.
Above all, QUIRKY.

Tom's friends are good value for money and Joseph Gordon-Levitt does his best to save the film but it's just not enough.
The soundtrack might be worth buying and it's always good to see bad films that just don't work so you know what they look like . . .

Rating: