This film is sort of entertaining, I guess, but it really does not amount to very much. The filmmakers are clearly influenced by Woody Allen (a lot of the style is lifted right out of Annie Hall, it seems to me.) But the problem, as with so many films, is that the filmmakers didn’t write enough dialog or flesh out the characters properly to support this kind of film. Plus, they try to cover the weak writing and story with all kinds of cutesy gimmicks (spontaneous dance numbers, “Science of Sleep” visual effects, a bizarre, deep-voiced narrator straight out of a nature special, etc..) I will say this: it does have a really good soundtrack, even though the filmmakers make rather uneven and sometimes clumsy use of it in the film. Actually the soundtrack is decidedly too good for the material it accompanies. The music overpowers the bland storyline and as a result the film crosses a line somewhere and is more like a giant music video.

I am a big fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and I continue to believe that he has something, a certain cinematic soulfulness, that has just not had its chance to shine. Because he bears a weird resemblance to a plastic action figure, he is getting typecast in Hollywood. I always wanted him to take a romantic lead to see if the deeper side of his acting could come out, but unfortunately this film is not the vehicle I was imagining; its just not very well written, and his character gives him almost nothing to do, although he tries his best. The scenes of him singing Karaoke were, strangely enough, my favorite parts of the movie.

Zooey Deschanel, on the other hand, is not an actress that I feel has hidden depths. She is just a one-note weirdo with really big eyes, and she does her usual thing here in this film. The two have no chemistry, and I think that is her fault.

Not bad for a summer distraction, if your expecations are not too high. But it’s really not very good, in my opinion.