(500) Days of Summer is a wonderful, unusual, funny romance (sorta) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. I paid to rent the DVD last Wednesday and then came home to find a review copy in my mailbox. I thought it had better be good. It was.
(500) Days of Summer tells the story of greeting card writer Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who falls hard for his boss’ quirky assistant, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel).
We’re told at the beginning that “this is not a love story,” and the movie begins with Summer’s Sid & Nancy
The first half of the film is full of “indie” clichés – Amélie
These gimmicks seemed primed to repel those of us suffering from “indie” burned out, but each element is presented in such a charming manner that they seem like completely new ideas. And the fresh perspective of a good director breathes life into what could easily have been a mess of a movie. Rather than the trendy pseudo low budget flick appearance, this film is flush with elegant angles and pans of Los Angeles architecture.
There’s plenty of humor, both subtle and overt, as well as atmospheric vignettes of romance. Best of all is a beautiful, painfully realistic contrast of expectation v. reality in what is possibly the most brilliant use of a split screen ever.
But the strength of the film really lies in the acting talent of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who brings a great deal of poignancy and humanity to every single scene -including the humorous ones.
The story is also propelled by a soundtrack
The DVD (the purchase version, not the rental) features commentary by director Marc Webb, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, writer Michael Webber, and co-writer Scott Newstator, who reveals that the story was inspired by and many of the scenes were taken directly from his dating experiences.
One Response to “DVD Review: (500) Days of Summer”
I just watched this last night and was ready to be repelled myself, but it was so damn charming I had to give in. I’d heard complaints that Zooey was playing yet another indie pixie girl with no life of her own, but realizing that the movie is written from Tom’s admittedly flawed perspective, I think it all worked rather well. Especially toward the end, when he begins to look at the flaws in their relationship more realistically. I think some of us have been Tom and some of us have been Summer and some of us have been both, so it all fits together nicely.