Love stories between a boy and a girl have been done ad infinitum. So how do you shake up the genre so people will watch yet another love story? The sweet and offbeat (500) Days of Summer certainly knows how.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (of former sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun) plays a junior writer at a greeting card company who falls in love with his boss’ assistant named Summer (the beautiful Zooey Deschanel). He thinks she’s beautiful and has the coolest taste ever – they both like The Smiths. But their romance lasts for just 500 days. (Hence, the title.)

What happens between Day 1 and Day 500?

The beauty of the script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber is that it keeps you guessing with its unpredictable pace and narration. The story keeps shifting back and forth in time so you never know which at point of the relationship you’re about to witness. You know it begins sweetly on Day 1 and ends badly by Day 500, but it’s the stuff that happens in between that keeps you curious.

Director Marc Webb, who started his career directing MTV videos and commercials, helms this hip, charming movie well. His use of music videos, split screens, animation and other creative techniques complement the story perfectly.

Ultimately, you may judge the movie as too trivial to watch again someday, but those 500 days were pure bliss.