(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009): USA
Reviewed by William Conlin. Viewed on DVD.
There are times where I’m absolutely desperate to escape the monotony of traditional Hollywood romance films. Luckily, when I was in that mood the other night, I viewed a quirky new film not only about love, but what happens when it doesn’t work out the way we planned.
When young greeting card writer Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets an office girl with a seasonal name and a strange disposition (Zooey Deschanel), the viewer is given a sometimes funny, sometimes depressing and always peculiar look into his (500) Days of Summer. The two hit things off well but when Tom wants a more serious relationship, he gets far more than he bargained for in Summer. As the two head for disaster, Tom’s hopes and dreams collapse before our very eyes.
Told in non-sequential order, the plot of (500) Days of Summer is at sometimes slightly hard to follow, but once the viewer gets the hang of it, the film becomes highly enjoyable. The backbone of this film comes from lead actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose likeable nature pulls you in and makes you a fan almost instantly. Gordon-Levitt (once a child star) seems to be having a well-deserved career comeback lately, thanks in part to this film.
In telling this story, the film takes an interesting approach. The fourth wall is broken, a street scene becomes a musical number and the viewer is given a chance to see reality side by side with what the main character wishes reality were. All these methods, mixed with the non linear nature of the film keep you engaged while challenging the classic structure of romantic comedies.
As stated in the tag line, (500) Days of Summer is “not a love story”, but by the end of it we find ourselves loving the main character and walking away from the film with a happy feeling. If a fresh, fun, independent film is what you’re looking for, look no further than (500) Days of Summer.
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