(500) Days of Summer

This has been a most interesting summer for movies, where the big budget movies have tended to fall flat while the movies that I was most on the fence about, namely District 9 and Star Trek, ended up hitting it right out of the park. There were also some great surprises, like The Hangover, and more recently (500) Days of Summer. While The Hangover is a comedic romp that revels in guilty movie pleasure and extremely base but effective humor, (500) Days is a thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly energetic look a relationships that hit very close to home for this reviewer. This was the perfect movie to end my summer reviews with, and though I may yet see GI Joe, I probably won’t review it anytime soon.

(500) Days of Summer makes two things very clear from the beginning of the movie. First, the movie is the story of a boy and a girl, and girl is someone that one of the film’s writers is no longer on good terms with. Second, is that the boy and girl do not end up together. Watching the movie, I was confused as to why the filmmakers would choose to tell us essentially the end of the story at the beginning. This is because the end isn’t as important as how the end came about, which is what the movie concerns itself with. The story is told non-chronologically, which works excellently as every happy moment the characters’ relationship is tempered with scenes from the decline of the romance. This makes the film seem much longer than its meager 95 minute running time, but this works well since such an emotional rollercoaster can’t be sustained for too long without tiring and eventually boring the audience. The movie is briskly paced, and engaging for the entire its entire length.



There are far too many good things to say about the two leads of the movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. They are excellent in their roles, never outshining the other and keeping their balance throughout the film. There are times when you want to hate their characters, and this is because you actually begin to care about both of them and question their actions out of concern for their well-being. This is a credit to both actors and their expertly understated performances. The rest of the cast is also well utilized, giving their support when needed and staying in the background when they’re not. The camera is absolutely in love with Zooey, and does an excellent job of showcasing her stunning beauty and her character’s almost force of nature-like personality. As the story is mostly told from Gordon-Levitt’s character’s perspective, his turn as the helpless romantic is the backbone of the story, and the emotional highs and lows that his character faces were especially relevant to my own experiences.

The movie is not only about relationships, but about personal perceptions as well. Just because you see something and want it very badly, it will never work out if everyone isn’t totally onboard no matter how badly you want it too. This was a lesson that I as a young man from San Antonio, who met a girl from Detroit in college, had to learn for himself a long time ago. I asked that girl out many time, only to get rejected time and time again. I was so sure that we were supposed to be together, that it nearly cost us our friendship. Finally, I grew up and was ready to move on. It was that realization, finally understanding that just because I wanted something didn’t mean I would get it, that was a key factor in my growing as a person. Eventually, that girl and I did get together, but not until she saw that growth in me, and realized that I had the potential to be there for her. This is a lesson that inherent in the movie, and is one of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much.



(500) Days of Summer deserves your attention, more so than any other so-called romantic comedy that has come out this year. I’d say it’s the best movie of the summer, but Star Trek was pretty excellent as well. Both movies are satisfying in their own way, and both are excellent for their own reasons. 10/10