(500) Days of Summer (Review)

Right from the get-go, the somewhat annoying narrator of (500) Days of Summer warns us not to expect a love story. Someone should have told Tom Hansen. Oh wait, someone did. The girl of his dreams, Summer Finn, makes it clear up front that she isn't looking for a boyfriend, that she doesn't even believe in love. (Her following actions could be said to send a bit of a mixed message, though.)

The movie takes a unique, non-linear look at the relationship between these two, showing the ups and downs of their time together as Tom tries to make sense of their break-up. Most of his memories of the past idealize Summer, but a shift in perspective later makes us question all we've seen through his eyes. (We should have known better than to trust someone who misinterpreted the ending of The Graduate.)

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is slightly emo but earnest, sweet and so clueless that he relies on his little sister for relationship advice. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is quirky and cute, sometimes maddeningly contradictory, but with an aura about her that (almost) justifies Tom's obsession. (Maybe it's her amazing eyes, highlighted by the signature shades of blue she surrounds herself with even in her apartment.)

The movie utilizes nontraditional ways of telling the story, including animation, putting a grieving Tom into foreign films, and, perhaps most effectively, a split screen segment emphasizing the vast gulf between Tom's expectations and reality. The music, good throughout the film, is especially excellent at this moment. ("Never ever saw it coming at all...")

For all its protestations about not being a love story, (500) Days of Summer is still a story about love. And, through its characters, it has some interesting things to say about it. Summer questions the meaning and reality of love, pointing out how most marriages end in divorce. Tom, on the other hand, asserts that you know love when you feel it. (While Tom and Summer seem to exchange viewpoints for a time, in the end they are still who they always were: an idealistic guy and a girl that does whatever she wants.)

If we can't quite see ourselves on one side or the other of this story, as either the hopeless romantic or the fiercely independent personality, we can probably recognize the types and why they make an uneasy match. Tom tries so hard to put Summer into a box as "the one" that he can't see she doesn't really fit. His wise-beyond-her-years-sister sees it: "Just 'cause some cute girl likes the same bizarro crap you do? That doesn't make her your soulmate." (Fair enough. But what does?)

At one point Tom goes on a tirade against greeting cards, movies and pop songs and the way they keep people from saying what they really feel while creating unrealistic expectations. But ultimately (500) Days turns into one of these movies, with an ending that promotes the ideas of fate and soulmates. (While it's not the happily-ever-after of your typical love story, the ending's still blindly optimistic, and maybe a little too cute.)

(500) Days of Summer is unique and fresh, an intelligent and unusual romantic comedy. (It's just not as brave as it pretends to be.)

Movie:
Rating:

(Although I could do without a couple of scenes and would probably like the TV edit.)

Soundtrack:
Rating:

("Bad Kids" is the only real clunker.)

I leave you with a music video, not from the movie, but with its two stars dancing to Zooey's song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" from her band She & Him. (I can't watch this without smiling.)