500 Days of Summer and The Proposal (2009)

Rom-com double feature time, with one love that will last, another just a junk ring painted gold. The low-down: “500 Days of Summer”plays cool with the rules of its genre, while “The Proposal” is all about the rules. Straight jacket time. I saw both in one weekend, one stayed with me, the other, not. Here we go:

The trailer and opening scenes of “500” stipulates this is a boy meets girl, boy loses girl story. No romance here. Talk about a smack on the forehead. I love those. Shattering the traditional genre timeline, this tale is a roses-packing version of “Memento,” following a romantic dreamer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and a realist (Zooey Deschanel). The cracked time line is a beautiful disorder as the guy recalls his relationship with a gal named Summer, good, bad, ugly and all three together, to realize the truth about love. Do they stick? Do they break up? Watch it. Scenes are played out repeatedly, but with different insight, while others split the screen between “expectation” and “reality.” A near brilliant head and heart trip, it’s far more real than anything you’ll see elsewhere -- see below -- that includes a hilarious Hall & Oates rock-out complete with animated birds. It may be all overly hip and cool, but I loved it. A-

Alas, “Proposal” flies with every dusty romcom rule on autopilot, including the third-act airport dash. Does anyone ever actually do that? Yet despite its reek, stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds as the girl and the guy, and Betty White (God love her!) as the granny, raise this film to bearable restraint. Bullock hasn’t been this likable in years, and plays the standard role of bitch-career woman with verve and vulnerability. Although I hate the sexist stereotype. Ryan is the straight guy here, with perfect deadpan reactions. The pitch: Bullock ’s high-and-mighty NYC book editor faces deportment back to Canada for a green card violation, so she scams whipping boy assistant (Reynolds) into marrying her. He hates her. Off they go to Alaska to meet his nutty family to set the con in place. And, whattya know, they fall in love. Like I said. Dust. Autopilot. Boring. Thank God for Betty White, and the game leads. B-