500 Days of Summer (2009)

This is not a love story. This is also not a comedy. This is also a really good movie. You want me to be honest? I love this movie indefinitely. Watching it right after watching the phenomenal Midnight In Paris is probably a very good thing, because I was already in the mood for a sweet romantic comedy-drama, as this movie is. What makes 500 Days of Summer so great is that it’s not a sweet romantic comedy that has the formula as the backbone. What makes this (and some other amazing [but few] films like this) so great is that it’s not a Hollywood romance. It’s real. This film boasts one of the most brilliant screenplays I have ever seen. It’s completely real (the film even begins with an extremely hilarious joke involving a disclaimer from the writer). We don’t remember love as a straight line. I sure don’t. I may not even be old enough to drive a car, but I have had my share of young (but always failed) love. And yes, I have constantly failed. But that’s beside the point. Or is it? Maybe that’s why I see Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as an older version of myself a little bit. He doesn’t know love. He just lives life. He wishes he knew love. And then day (1) came. That’s when he met Summer (Zooey Deschanel), who Tom immediately saw as The One (this movie has one of the best taglines ever-“Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.”). Tom does his best to be with Summer, and when he gets things right, things go wrong. Remember, this is all told in a complete non-linear way. The film begins with Tom’s sister (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) giving him a shot of vodka and having him tell the story. That was day (290). The narrative jumps from place to place in the 500 days of the relationship between Tom and Summer. The movie really is what would happen if Quentin Tarantino made a romance film. But it’s sweet, and not bloody. If Joseph Gordon-Levitt had cut Deschanel’s scalp off or said a few more expletives, then it would be the Tarantino romance. But it’s not. It’s sweet, honest, cute, hilarious, and heartbreaking. The film is a bit uneven at times, but if you think about it, how many films aren’t? Not a lot. The movie is directed very well by Marc Webb, who is directing The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. The film’s acting is probably one of its strongest suits along with the screenplay. Gordon-Levitt is brilliant as always, he brings such a life to Tom that could have been lifeless. His leading lady Zooey is also extremely good, maintaining such a humanity while Tom tries to convince us that she’s evil. Playing Tom’s best friend is Geoffrey Arend, who was a main character in Devil, but I haven’t seen him in anything else. He’ll probably continue to play those small roles in those small films, be the “Oh, I know that guy. He was in…um…” guy. And that’s not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all. He is very good in this film, he’s just overshadowed by some of the other characters. This rule works for a lot of the characters, including the brilliant Chloë Grace Moretz. For an actress who is only a year older than myself, I can say that she holds a kind of wisdom that matches Gordon-Levitt’s. If you’ve had enough conversations with me about movies, you’ve heard me lump praise on this girl over and over again. She is magnificent, adding to the extremely small list of child actors and actresses that are actually talented. This entire cast is so talented. This entire film is just flowing with genius. It baffles me that this movie wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Avatar was, but this wasn’t? At least an acting nod or Best Original Screenplay, or one of the many things it deserved. It just makes me sad. This movie deserved it all the way. [NOTE: The film’s poster and DVD say the film is (500) Days of Summer. I just keep parenthesis for the year released in the titles for these reviews]
9/10