500 Days of Summer
Movie Review
500 Days of Summer
by Eric D. Snider
Grade: A
Released: July 17, 2009
Directed by:
Cast:
The first time I saw "500 Days of Summer" was in January, at the Sundance Film Festival. I loved it for its creativity and vibrant humor, for the clever way it rearranged familiar movie tropes to come up with something new. Five months passed before I saw it again, at the CineVegas Film Festival, and in the interim I had experienced my own miniature version of the film's central relationship. That didn't occur to me, though, until the movie started and I began recognizing myself as one of its characters. Now, in addition to being hilarious and original, the film was suddenly emotionally resonant, honest about love and romance in a way that few films are. This film that I already adored took on even more significance and value. How often does that happen? My second viewing of "Resident Evil," for example, did nothing for me.
The unseen narrator cautions us up front that while this is indeed a story of boy meets girl, it is not a love story. It is, however, a story about love -- its painful truths, its exhilarating highs, and the inconvenient fact that while she may be The One for you, you might not be The One for her. The kicker is that we keep looking anyway, because when The Ones do line up, well, boy howdy.
Our hopeless romantic is Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young Los Angeles man with a degree in architecture that is currently gathering dust while he writes copy for a greeting-card company. A co-worker named Summer (Zooey Deschanel) has been in his life for 500 days, and the movie hopscotches through time to show us all the ups and downs, each scene preceded by a handy title card informing us what number day it is.
Summer, we are informed by our narrator, is the type of woman with whom men have always fallen in love. (Zooey Deschanel has played this role about a dozen times now, which by itself makes her casting perfect.) Summer is pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way, easygoing and approachable, smart but not intimidating. She also does not believe in true love. She does not believe in The One. This is unfortunate for Tom, who not only believes in The One but believes he will not be happy until he finds her. What's more, he thinks Summer might be it.
If we mentally put their relationship in chronological order, we see that it begins happily and passionately, with trips to Ikea to play house, the revealing of secrets never shared with anyone else, lazy Sundays in bed, all the usual accoutrements -- peppered, in this case, by snappy but believable dialogue written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. (The duo also wrote "Pink Panther 2," but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess their heart wasn't in that the way it was in this.) Summer insists right off that she's not looking for anything serious, but honestly, isn't that what we all say until we meet the person we want to be serious with?
There is strain in the relationship later (though we saw it sooner, because it was shown to us out of sequence). The strain comes because Tom is more in love with Summer than Summer is with Tom. At a cafe, they have this conversation:
TOM: I'm happy, aren't you happy?
SUMMER: You're happy?? All we do is argue!
TOM: That is complete bulls***.
What happens from there is a foregone conclusion, really, though it's startling to see it played out so realistically and empathetically. All movies are made by human beings ("Transformers" excepted), yet it's rare to see one that truly represents the way human beings think and feel. "500 Days of Summer" does it. Directed by Marc Webb (his first feature), it's as close to perfect a romantic comedy as I've ever seen. It's actually romantic, for one thing -- sweet and starry-eyed yet grounded in reality, the way love actually is. Even when the film is not literally realistic -- the impromptu celebratory dance number, for example, or the side-by-side comparison of Tom's expectation of a scene versus the reality of it -- the emotions being depicted hit home.
Despite being miraculously witty and inventive, the film is never self-consciously quirky. Apart from the title, there's nothing cutesy to be found. It's a tight, well-structured screenplay, too, the kind of work you can tell wasn't cobbled together by some studio committee but was honest-to-goodness WRITTEN, with a purpose in mind, by people who cared about how it turned out. (I award the movie extra points for having the best closing line of dialogue of any movie in years.)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who got his start on the sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun" but has mostly done serious work since then, has the exuberance and vulnerability to make a character like Tom relatable without turning him into a wimpy sad sack. Where other sensitive movie men would be brooding or moping, Tom is using his black mood to write inappropriate greeting cards and to bark at passersby who dare hold hands in his presence.
Perhaps you are wondering if this is really a film about a failed relationship, and if so, how it can possibly be as upbeat and wonderful as I say it is. Your concerns are logical -- but love is not logical, and "500 Days of Summer" is all about love. You'll have to trust me. Trust me that you'll fall in love with Tom and/or Summer, that you'll leave the film happier than you went in, and that sure enough, a movie can address the cold, hard facts of love and make you glad to have learned them.
Grade: A
Rated PG-13, moderate profanity, one F-word, a little sexuality
1 hr., 35 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 20 comments
July 15, 2009 at 6:36 am
Wow, I read your review and then looked out to see if the sky was falling. You gave a romantic comedy an A! I suppose you were surprised that a romantic comedy earned such a high grade (most really do stink don't they?). Thanks for the recommendation, now I know what romantic comedy I'm going to make my husband take me to.
July 15, 2009 at 11:11 am
Word on the street (or NPR) is that the director created a playlist of songs for the actors to listen to before each day of shooting. He wanted all the actors to feel and understand the mood and tone for that day on the set. Perhaps that's why the film comes off so well. Kinda cool... Do I astound you with my knowledge? I think so.
July 15, 2009 at 2:01 pm
@1: Well, he said it's not really a comedy though. Or at least not a cliched comedy.
Sounds extremely smart, I'm definitely going to look out for this film. I'm not against romantic movies, just "RomCom" money grubbing crapholes that are only out to take as much money from the teenage girl population as possible. (And twist their cultural outlook into something totally ridiculous at the same time.)
@2: Consider me astounded.
BRB finding this movie.
July 15, 2009 at 4:04 pm
@1: Well, he said it's not really a comedy though. Or at least not a cliched comedy.
A comedy, yes. A very funny one. I think I said that several times. But no, not a cliched comedy.
July 17, 2009 at 6:18 pm
who was the narrator? i missed it in the credits but it was like "well we couldn't afford the real morgan freeman so here's a cheaper knockoff". :) loved this movie though. most honest romantic comedy ive seen
July 19, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Michael your right, the director did make a music tape for each cast member. I worked at Sundance this past Jan and was at the premiere of it. The director talked about how he did that and so did Joe. After they stayed forever talking to us and answered tons of questions, it was very cool.
And I completely agree Eric, I love this film!
July 29, 2009 at 10:46 am
Loved, loved, loved this one! It was truly romantic in a completely different way than we are used to in romantic movies. And, I think the casting was perfect. Two people who are about as attractive as the attractive people we know in real life. No uber hotties to distract us with swooning. We don't need to swoon in order to fall in love with these characters and to see our own lives in their journey.
July 29, 2009 at 10:54 am
I've seen the movie and agree with Eric's glowing review (as did the friends I saw it with). I would def say it qualifies as a Romantic Comedy. It's a comedy. It's a romance. It's a comedy about a romantic relationship.
There happen to be so many mediocre, formulaic, and downright bad rom coms that the term itself has gotten a bum rap. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to make a great romantic comedy or that one should take the rom out of com when describing a film in order to convince people it's great.
Great movies speak for themselves, and they transcend genres. A great movie is a great movie. And almost any idea in any genre has the potential to be a great movie IF it's done well.
500 Days of Summer was done very, very well.
July 29, 2009 at 10:56 am
"It's a comedy about a romantic relationship."
Actually, I'll amend that. It's a STORY about a romantic relationship that is very funny, and sad, and frustrating, and sweet, and optimistic, and pessimistic at times, and resonating, and uplifting, and different, and creatively told.
July 31, 2009 at 7:49 am
Will this flick ever be shown in a city smaller than Atlanta ?
I'm 2 hrs away in SC.
August 7, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I'm surprised, Eric, that you didn't mention Tom's sister. That sweet, precocious 40 year old sage trapped in a 9-12 year old body. Classic. I loved this movie.
August 8, 2009 at 4:40 pm
While this was a really good movie, it was also a bad choice to see it when I was fairly depressed.
August 15, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I just got back from seeing this movie and I heart it so very, very much. The way that it captures the emotions, uncertainty, and dynamics of a relationship are so true and so rarely depicted in conventional romance movies. This is one I'm going to need to see again to fully understand and appreciate.
Also, this movie made me covet Zooey Deschanel's hair and wardrobe. I think I would kill my own mother to get my hands on the blue dress Summer wears when she and Tom go to Ikea.
August 16, 2009 at 4:28 am
Loved your review and loved this movie. Maybe this should have come out in the fall though. It's not a typical summer movie (pun intended). I think it should get some Oscar nominations and a November release could have given it legs at the box office. It's just sad that most people won't even see such a great movie with all of the over hyped competition. It was realistic and I can totally relate to Tom. I did like the dance scene. I thought it was a dream since the movie had such a real feel to it..... so I thought that was a huge risk. Still it worked and didn't take away from the realism. The expectations/reality scene was just perfect.......something Tarantino would do if he made a romantic comedy. Is a best picture nomination out of the question?
August 28, 2009 at 9:47 am
I saw this movie last night and can't get it out of my mind. Did anyone else notice that Summer was always wearing blue and Tom no color at all(brown, black, gray)? It thought that was interesting. Although I'm not going to try to determine any deep meaning in it. Just cool.
September 7, 2009 at 2:35 pm
This movie is currently being shown in Provo (finally). Saw it a couple days ago, and it was wonderful. Anyone in the Provo/Orem area would do well to see it.
November 2, 2009 at 5:25 pm
While I much enjoyed the film, the "precocious" younger sister proved distracting, wholly unrealistic. Chrystle, what struck you as humorous about her? What did I miss?
December 28, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I think this film is less about romance and/or comedy than it is about growing up in the 21st century. Like in the movie "As Good As It Gets", the main character GROWS. He changes for the better ever so softly, ever so subtle-like, and he was honed, rough edges worn down (and ameliorated) by his failed relationship with Summer. You are right Eric--those lines really do make you really do smile at the end of the movie, and the look on Tom's face: PRICELESS. The movie earns that ending; it's an idea well-crafted.
January 2, 2010 at 6:58 am
So few comments?
Loved this movie, and love the review as well. It's obvious you cared about this review a lot. One of your best.
July 26, 2010 at 4:40 am
Well Peter.....this movie does deserve more comments so I think I'll comment again. I just finally got around to watching it for a second time. I loved it even more and Eric's review is perfect. Besides what I mentioned in my previous comment, I really loved the black and white scenes describing why Summer is no ordinary girl. That stuck with me this viewing even more. I also loved when Tom was describing Summer's little quirks and detailed observations of her the second time.......as compared to the first. I can go on and on about how great this movie is. I just watched it for the second time and I would love to see it again tomorrow.