Seen before: No
One of the more recent films I own, I bought it largely due to my admiration for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the pre-conception that it was not a 'typical' romance film. I had actually seen half of it before but was then marshaled out of the room by my sister, so never got to finish it that time round....
---Plot Summary---
Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a boy. Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) is a girl. The day Summer comes to work at the greeting card company that Tom works at, he falls in love with her. He later finds out that she does not believe in love. What follows is an unlikely relationship between the two in which Tom hopes that Summer will eventually fall for him, but as we learn through various jumps backward and forward in time, it's ultimately hopeless.
---Review---
I want to say that Tom's situation mirrors my own life. I want to say that I understand completely where he is coming from. I want to say that we all have our 'Summer' at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, I can't say any of that because it's simply not true (at least not in my case). (500) Days Of Summer is a tale of one man falling utterly and incomprehensibly in love (which has happened to me on a couple of occasions), but then somehow allowing himself to become part of a relationship in which he has been told he has no chance of convincing Summer to love him. Tom is a cool guy, he likes architecture, he likes The Smiths, he likes karaoke (erm...), and he likes what he has with Summer. But he wants more.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt convincingly portrays a man who is bound to one woman, and I mean well and truly glued. The morning after the first night he sleeps with Summer, he emerges from the front of his building with a grin wide enough to fit two faces, and immediately bursts into a grand musical number. This is just one of many 'quirky' techniques the director Marc Webb uses throughout the film to emphasize the fact that this is a 'trendy' and 'indie' romance film. Now while many of these are quite pleasing at first, I found they eventually became tiresome. What did not become tiresome however, was the use of inspired music in this film (that includes the karaoke scenes, I genuinely want to go to a karaoke bar like the one in the film).
What I do like is that the writers and director have tried to convince us, the viewer, that we are in love with Summer too, through, amongst other subtler ways, Tom's descriptions of everything he loves about her. Unfortunately, Summer is played by Zooey Deschanel, who I have always found incredibly annoying (it's her voice and her general doughy eyes). I know that to some people she is the perfect 'girl-next-door' but I just don't understand her appeal. That's not to say she doesn't produce a satisfactory performance, but I may have been drawn in further by another actress.
There are some genuinely touching and laugh out loud moments in the film (the penis shouting scene is something that me and a friend actually used to do), and at times it is heartbreaking, especially when Tom finds out that Summer has moved on from him when he so clearly has not. But ultimately, what I gained from the film is to never give up hope of true love (which I guess is a good message to put forward). It's certainly an interesting watch, but just lacks that little bit of magic to make it a modern classic.
---Rating---
7/10
Tomorrow: 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
One of the more recent films I own, I bought it largely due to my admiration for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the pre-conception that it was not a 'typical' romance film. I had actually seen half of it before but was then marshaled out of the room by my sister, so never got to finish it that time round....
---Plot Summary---
Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a boy. Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) is a girl. The day Summer comes to work at the greeting card company that Tom works at, he falls in love with her. He later finds out that she does not believe in love. What follows is an unlikely relationship between the two in which Tom hopes that Summer will eventually fall for him, but as we learn through various jumps backward and forward in time, it's ultimately hopeless.
---Review---
I want to say that Tom's situation mirrors my own life. I want to say that I understand completely where he is coming from. I want to say that we all have our 'Summer' at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, I can't say any of that because it's simply not true (at least not in my case). (500) Days Of Summer is a tale of one man falling utterly and incomprehensibly in love (which has happened to me on a couple of occasions), but then somehow allowing himself to become part of a relationship in which he has been told he has no chance of convincing Summer to love him. Tom is a cool guy, he likes architecture, he likes The Smiths, he likes karaoke (erm...), and he likes what he has with Summer. But he wants more.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt convincingly portrays a man who is bound to one woman, and I mean well and truly glued. The morning after the first night he sleeps with Summer, he emerges from the front of his building with a grin wide enough to fit two faces, and immediately bursts into a grand musical number. This is just one of many 'quirky' techniques the director Marc Webb uses throughout the film to emphasize the fact that this is a 'trendy' and 'indie' romance film. Now while many of these are quite pleasing at first, I found they eventually became tiresome. What did not become tiresome however, was the use of inspired music in this film (that includes the karaoke scenes, I genuinely want to go to a karaoke bar like the one in the film).
What I do like is that the writers and director have tried to convince us, the viewer, that we are in love with Summer too, through, amongst other subtler ways, Tom's descriptions of everything he loves about her. Unfortunately, Summer is played by Zooey Deschanel, who I have always found incredibly annoying (it's her voice and her general doughy eyes). I know that to some people she is the perfect 'girl-next-door' but I just don't understand her appeal. That's not to say she doesn't produce a satisfactory performance, but I may have been drawn in further by another actress.
There are some genuinely touching and laugh out loud moments in the film (the penis shouting scene is something that me and a friend actually used to do), and at times it is heartbreaking, especially when Tom finds out that Summer has moved on from him when he so clearly has not. But ultimately, what I gained from the film is to never give up hope of true love (which I guess is a good message to put forward). It's certainly an interesting watch, but just lacks that little bit of magic to make it a modern classic.
---Rating---
7/10
Tomorrow: 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
Good review :)
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