This is not your typical `boy meets girl' kind of story...
One of those rare films where style and originality don't take away from heartfelt poignancy; `(500) Days of Summer' is a beautifully composed and constructed love story. Yes, I know that it makes you painfully away in the first few seconds that it is NOT a love story, but if you believe that then you're a sucker for a tall tale. This is not a conventional love story, sure, but when all is said and done, `(500) Days of Summer' is one of the most splendidly accurate depictions of love put to film.
The film jumps sporadically through the 500 day whirlwind romance between Tom and Summer. The film actually begins in the middle, after a nasty breakup, and then jumps back to when they met and so on and so forth. This filming style has been used by quite a few filmmakers and it's a style that either works extremely well or completely butchers a movie. This is one instance where the style is almost necessary. Sure, this tale could have been told in a straight forward canonical fashion, but the film really drags us in by teasing us with future events, keeping us completely engaged as we contemplate what led up to what we are witnessing.
It was a smart move that I applaud.
One thing that I really admired about the film is that fact that Summer Finn is basically presented as a blank canvas. One of my friends noted that the film fails to really give us any reason for Tom to become so obsessed with her. In the film his sister Rachel even comments that Tom only loves her because they like the same band. The thing to remember is that the story is being told from Tom's perspective. We are not getting two sides of the story here, and so what we see is what Tom sees, and not all of it is accurate. Even the film acknowledges that, as can be seen from what Rachel says to Tom. This is a story about how we can blind ourselves to the faults and missteps of the ones we love. Tom thinks everything is perfect, everything is wonderful and so we, the audience, see everything as wonderful. Summer's outbursts and significant `pulling away' seems almost out of place and unwarranted because all we can see are the blinders that Tom has put up. It's a very bold and brutally honest move, and I really admire the film for not taking the generic route of creating a faux love hate relationship.
Nothing about this film feels `done before'.
One aspect of the film that really embraced me was the beautiful way in which it was shot. The film feels so crisp, with beautiful lighting that gives the film an almost sun drenched appearance. It's a nice compliment to the fanciful idea of everlasting love, which Tom entertains throughout. In particular is the scene towards the end, where high expectations and bitter realities are delivered side by side on split screen. The sequence is probably my favorite in the film.
The performances are all very good, Joseph Gordon-Levitt once again delivering a stunning performance, one that is much different than anything he's ever done before. He proves that he can fuse the funny aspects of his acting style with the dramatic and make it believable. He is the perfect love-sick puppy here. Zooey Deschanel (who has always been one of my favorite actresses) is the perfect doll to dote over. She is beautiful and charming and witting and interesting, and even here, when playing a near figment of Tom's imagination, she is stunning and completely commanding.
`(500) Days of Summer' has it all. It has romance, drama, comedy and it even sports a sublime musical scene that just gives the entire film a facelift. It is a very, very smart film that never sacrifices honesty for art. This is certainly one of the best films of the year, and maybe even the decade.
Reviewed by Andrew Ellington
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