(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Oh man Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in a movie together! So you know that means I will be eagerly seeing it despite the likelihood of cutesy indie overload. The former plays Tom Hansen, a greeting card writer who studied to be an architect and longs for a soul mate. He meets Summer Finn, a new secretary at work, and is instantly smitten by her good taste in music, sense of humor, and of course, general adorability. She openly discusses her belief that true love doesn't exist, and when they begin spending more time together and getting physical, she lets him know that she's not looking for anything serious and wants to make sure that's ok with him.

He's like "Yeah, casual, whatever" but of course proceeds to fall in love with Summer the more he gets to know her. As he gets in too deep, he fails to see the warning signs that will likely lead to separation. He seeks help from his buddies McKenzie (Geoffrey Arand) and Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler), as well as his precocious little sister Rachel (Chloe Moretz), but still manages to fool himself into thinking he's the special guy who will show Summer that true love exists.

The story is told in an interesting non-linear style, forwarding and rewinding between the 500 days that Tom is somehow involved with Summer, whether it's as friends, sort of dating, lamenting the loss of, or trying to win back. This technique gives an edge to the story, making the film a bit unconventional and more engaging, since questions of how the couple's relationship moved from one place to another were raised and then not answered until much later when it flashed to the same day again. It was nice to be kept on my toes as to the outcome, but I have to say I really hated the ending. To me it negated a lot of what Summer's character had been about and just took away from my overall enjoyment of the film.

There were good things, though! It's a lot funnier than I thought it would be, with some nice writing and a fitting amount of whimsy. Gordon-Levitt is incredibly charming, as usual, despite his character being kind of dumb. I liked the little things inserted into the dialogue about the characters' interests and hobbies. There was talk of music and architecture and weird dreams and art; often I feel like conversations in romantic comedies are centered around the topics of love or life stories or something, so it's cool to hear people talk about things I would be talking about. Also, yes I felt pretty in-the-know when I recognized most of the songs on the soundtrack or artists they mentioned. Whatever.

(500) Days of Summer is indeed a love story, but rather one-sided. It focuses mostly on Tom's point of view, reactions, and emotions as he falls for someone who is portrayed as somewhat cold for not returning his affections. I don't mind the idea of a one-sided story, but I got the feeling the sceenwriters were aiming for something vaguely bipartisan. I was on Summer's side, for the most part, since she clearly stated her intentions and never wanted to define her relationship with Tom for fear of ruining things later, and honestly felt sorry that she couldn't feel for him as he felt for her. But I think the writers were on Tom's side, if that makes sense. They could have given Summer a bit more depth or explanation.

The movie is entertaining, interestingly structured, and features two stellar leads. I loved the humor and dialogue, but the one-sidedness and bullshit ending kept it from being special for me.

3.5/5

"There is a Light That Never Goes Out"- The Smiths
"Us"- Regina Spektor
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"- She & Him (Smiths cover)

And here's my favorite spontaneous dance number since Enchanted, set to "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall & Oates