(500) Days of Summer
After seeing Summer (Zooey Deschanel) for the first time, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) knows that she is “the one” for him. Unfortunately, Summer doesn’t believe in love at all. The film starts when Summer breaks up with Tom and then shows the beginnings of their relationship through flashbacks, going back and forth and then also to the future. Tom is a very creative guy and the film is shown from his perspective, so sometimes there are drawings combined with life action.
The audience is being warned up front that this isn’t a love story but I was still surprised that there really isn’t a conventional happy-ending, mainly because the main characters are so perfect for each other. The story and most of the characters are fun and cute. But (500) Days of Summer didn’t turn out to be as great as I had hoped it would be. It has really great moments but it is sometimes going a bit too far. There is a scene where Tim is really happy after spending the first night with Summer and he starts dancing on the street and the scene turns into a musical where everyone on the street joins him with the dancing. It is kind of sweet and I laughed but it is just too much and wasn’t necessary. A big grin and a little hop would have been enough to convey his joy.
A little note on the side: the set designer (or whoever) had a stroke of genius when they decided to make an entire wall of Tim’s room into a black board! I so want this in my room! It is brilliant!
The main reason I went to see (500) Days of Summer was the lovely Zooey Deschanel and she does the film justice. I did have a bit o a feeling that she played herself just memorizing the lines but I don’t know her, so I don’t know. It looks like type-casting to me but she could just be really good. I don’t think I have seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt in anything else, so I was positively surprised how great he is. He is very quirky and suits Zooey perfectly.
All in all it is a fun film and very entertaining for two hours but it won’t make my 100 favorite movies of all time list (coming soon…I’m still working on it.).
Tags: (500) Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
July 31st, 2009 at 9:20 am
I want to see this and see what the fuss is about. Its been getting great reviews and the trailer has had me interested for some time now. Curious to see your 100 favorite list
December 29th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Good review but I disagree with you on the little musical/dancing scene. That was charming and really added to the viewing experience. The movie is constructed like a memory so that scene would be what he felt like internally. A big smile would have been what may have happened in reality but in his mind, he was dancing and singing!
December 30th, 2009 at 12:17 am
Hi Castor, welcome to my blog
Don’t get me wrong, I loved this movie! I just thought that the dancing scene was a bit much. I can see where you are coming from though…maybe when I watch it a second time it will be different..