Review of (500) Days of Summer

image from Wikipedia

Premise:
Boy, AKA Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets Girl, AKA Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and falls madly in love. Summer likes Tom too. Notice the word choice there, and how the title only states 500 days. In the 500 days, you get the most un-Hollywood glamorized, realistic (nerdy?) portrayal of a relationship from start to end with inveitable ups and downs. You know those goofy but fun and lovable friends you have that you turn to when you have problems? This movie even gave those guys a realistic, and vital role as themselves.


Standouts:
The narrator really does a good job of selling this movie whenever he jumps in. No matter how serious or quirky the scene calls for, this narrator just hits the nail square on the head. And the stars of the film, Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are undoubtedly amazing. You can relate, you can empathize, you can understand, and at the same time you can be entertained.

The jumping around in time (going from day 400-something to day 1, then to day 2, then to day 150, then to day 400-something, then to day 20 or something like that) really made my head spin. I had some real difficulty keeping hold of things in sequential order when they weren't seperated by at least two hundred days. And really, I don't think there was such a need for all the time-jumping. There's also a scene that gets a little too indie-art for me as a film-buff, where a depressed Tom is staring out on the scenary before him which all turns to a sketch, and then gets faded and erased. This is the only time that the entire reality of the movie is bent to such a degree and I thought it stood out to me in a negative light. In contrast, Tom gets a dance-sequence out of nowhere that also bends reality, but at least that worked for Ferris Beuller.


My Highlights:
When Summer meets Paul. It's brief, but Summer has one of the funniest zingers ever. I was even embarressed for Tom, it was so good. There's also a hilarious scene when Tom and Summer go to an Ikea store, where entire furnished rooms are on display and the pair go from room to room role playing that their a propper married couple.


Overall Rating:
A movie with some expertise acting and great directing and writing. The zingers zing just right, the cute stuff makes your heart warm, and the sad parts break your heart. I can also see why some wouldn't like this movie, as it's entirely focused on Tom, maybe a little too much. But still an overall amazing movie, which I award 4 *'s out of 5.


When You Should See It:
It depends on your relationship status. If you're single, and happy to be single, then there's not really a rush. But if you're recently post-breakup, or starting a new relationship, or in the middle of a relationship that you're really enjoying, the kind you don't mind showing your dorky side to your partner, see this movie as soon as possible. It's going to put your whole life into perspective!