On the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack, the sound of unrequited love is oh so beautiful.

This generation's cinematic ballad for the broken-hearted sees Joseph Gordon-Levitt endlessly pursuing every hipster's crush, Zooey Deschanel. The movie's soundtrack couldn't be more gorgeously heart-wrenching either.

Of course, the master of pop sorrow, Morrissey, shows up on two classic Smiths tracks "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." Somber modern fare like Doves' "There Goes the Fear" sits alongside Morrissey and Simon & Garfunkel's warm "Bookends" comfortably. Regina Spektor adds some unique levity—but the true highlight is when Deschanel busts out her own rendition of "Please, Please, Please…" for She & Him's album closer.

Getting your heart broken never felt so good.

—Rick Florino
08.18.09

"I love the Smiths," Zooey Deschanel enthuses during the early moments of (500) Days of Summer, thus setting the stage for her relationship with Brit-pop fanatic Joseph Gordon-Levitt. With music playing such an integral role in the story line, it's refreshing to see that the accompanying soundtrack does its job well, distilling the characters' record collections (not to mention the movie's quirky, nostalgic ambience) into one eclectic track list. Regina Spektor contributes two songs to the mix, but the Smiths are awarded the most screen time, performing two songs ("There Is a Light That Never Goes Out," "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want") and providing the source material for a swoony cover song by She & Him. Another Smith -- the whimsical singer/songwriter Meaghan Smith -- delivers one of the album's most poignant moments with a cover of "Here Comes Your Man," a tune that holds it own amidst a collection of folk classics and British pop hits. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi