(500) Days of Summer
Rated PG-13
Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel
Nominated for 2010 Golden Globe Best Picture – Comedy or Musical
This semi-indie romantic comedy starts right off with the narrator saying “This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.” An interesting beginning as we generally assume a romantic comedy is about the events leading to the characters getting together. This one seems to be about the events that lead them apart.
From my perspective you will either really like this movie, or be really bored by it. My opinion is that it depends on what types of relationships you have been in in the past and your feeling on love and fate. For those who have had pretty stable relationships or married their high school sweet heart, there’s a good chance this movie is just about two obnoxious main characters.
But for the rest of us, who never can seem to figure out exactly what it is that makes a relationship work (if anything), this movie was written to speak to you. But then again, with the characters being so different, it may speak to guys and girls differently. It spoke to me and I identified with much of it.
The movie is slightly indie in that it tells the plot out of order. Sometimes this doesn’t work for me, but it works fairly well here. It doesn’t seem to tell it completely backwards, so it gets a bit confusing at a few parts. It also mixes a few random artistic choices, like inserting a singing scene, some hand-drawn art on the screen, and a mini-documentary in the middle of the movie. Again, normally I’m not a big fan of total randomness, but it wasn’t too distracting here.
The film also features a great soundtrack. I couldn’t figure out where to talk about it so I just put it here.
There is no plot per se, but more a series of events telling a simple story. The two main characters do a good job, and the supporting cast was great. I found the lead male to be a well written character who I empathized with, but I found his love interest to be a bit stereotypical and I really didn’t like her as a person. But, again, that’s sometimes how love blinds us and we only see the good but ignore the bad things in people.
If you’ve ever met someone and after one conversation like “I love hiking too!” and thought you were destined to be together forever. Or if you are the opposite, and believe that fate and love doesn’t really exist, and you just do your best with what you’ve got – then there’s something in this movie you can relate to and something you’ll learn.
It’s a romance with little romance, a comedy with little comedy, and an indie that isn’t too indie. Sounds like an underwhelming effort, but for me, it was a pretty good film and got me thinking much more than any romantic comedy I’ve ever seen. The irony is that in the film it discusses how mainstream greeting cards, pop songs, and movies have shaped our perception of love.
Maybe not the best date flick, but then again since most relationships aren’t like the movies, maybe it is the best kind of date flick.
* * * stars out of 4
An interesting news update, the director of this movie was recently chosen to direct the new Spider-Man reboot.
What others are saying
You’re going to hear a lot about 500 Days of Summer over the next few months. All of the good stuff is true. Any bad stuff you hear is not. – Film Threat
Visually witty, flawlessly played romantic comedy. – Chicago Reader
Something seldom seen: an original romantic comedy. – LA Times
For all its rhetorical whimsy and hipster dressings, (500) Days of Summer is a thoroughly conservative affair, as culturally and romantically status quo as any Jennifer Aniston vehicle. – NPR
