500 Days of Summer
In a failed romance, we never remember things in order, particularly chronologically. We start near the end and then we jump back into good times and bad times that stung. People always say “start at the beginning,” but it was not apparent what that was when it was happening. This is exactly how “500 Days of Summer” movie operates.
There are some who are pissed off because they believe this film starts on day 488 or whatever and then randomly skips around with useless tags such as “Day 1” or “Day 249.” Movies are supposed to ground us in the reasonable notion that events follow one another according to certain patterns. However, Tom remembers his love, Summer, as a string of joys and puzzles. What kind of lady likes you completely truly and has no other half but doesn’t want to get married ever?
Zooey Deschanel would be an apt actress for the role described above. I can’t possibly picture her playing someone needy. Too stubborn-headed. As she plays Summer, she looks right through Tom without any pretense. It’s not his fault if she happens to be sweet, brilliant and pretty it is just who she is. He is always honestly treated by her. She belongs to herself alone yet he can’t have her .
Do you know somebody like that? In love, we believe anything we desire. That’s why “500 Days of Summer” has gained so much popularity among people out there. Ever since he saw her ,Tom loved Summer from the moment he laid eyes on her.
He does not think about love as deeply as poets like Shelley do though. He writes greeting cards which may also insinuate that he may even mean them for himself too. It’s incredible individuals get paid for something like that; I could: “Love is a rose whose petals are you.” His boss’ new assistant is now Summer, she wants him and she shows it to him on the Xerox machine one day.
Can he accept that she just likes him for now, not forever? In this film, which is a wonderful comedy, full of originality, Tom’s grappling with this reality is shown. The Director Marc Webb seems like he has been searching for ideas from other movies he has seen before in order to help him narrate the story whereas it is rather playfulness than desperation.
There’s some black and white stuff there, a little musical number, and even a touch of Fellini always good for showing how a man yearning looks like. Just as Mastroianni did in “La Dolce Vita,” Tom goes through this movie in an emotional limbo his hands ever reaching out to his unattainable dreams.
Summer remains mysterious throughout the movie because we keep wanting her to give in along with Tom. When we eventually realize that because it does not operate according to Hollywood rules she doesn’t have to do so here any longer, then we become interested; anything could happen in that case. The kaleidoscopic time structure annihilates three-act gridlock and thrashes joyously about with romantic confusion’s freedoms.
Men are fond of instructing women. A woman who wants to attract a man would do well to pretend to be his student. This makes men fall for it. Tom intended to become an architect but not a poet of greeting cards in his life. Both he and Summer have the same Los Angeles viewpoint that you may not have seen before, and he gives her an architectural tour about it.
It is fun because rarely do we find characters arguing over their aesthetic values in films, not because we can see beautiful buildings here. What does your typical character played by an A list star think about truth and beauty? Has Jason Bourne ever gone to a museum on his day off?
Joseph Gordon Levitt has acted in many films from among one of the “Halloween” sequels to “Brick”, which was kind of indie gem though. It is only here that he comes into relief as an authentic, amiable guy who is eager for relationships but easily frustrated like Tom Hanks’ though slightly less so. He is strong enough to expect love, weak enough for heartbreak . When she wants, Zooey Deschanel evokes this capacity of some women to madly provoke admiration from men without even giving it mind at all. In the obscure “Gigantic” (2008) she also did so, despite the movie’s peculiar supporting characters.
The film begins with Tom announcing that it will not be a typical love story. Do you feel annoyed if you realize that the movie is on autopilot like I do? How long can the characters pretend they don’t know how the story will end? Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why.
Every single film critic without exception has neglected this punctuation mark in their reviews; however, Variety led them all astray here. Good for them!
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