500 Days of Summer
"I love The Smiths."
With those four words followed an obsession by one Tom for one Summer. 500 Days of Summer is technically classified as a romantic comedy, which if so, would be one of the scarce few I have ever enjoyed. But I don't know about that. On the surface, that is its label, but on the whole, I think it is closer to a tragedy.
The movie is a little indie flick that would've flown under my radar if it wasn't for Zooey Deschanel. And I didn't even know who she was until 2 weeks ago when she appeared on Conan. If I hadn't had the TV on in the background tuned to NBC, who could say how the present would've turned out? Zooey, in her scant 7 minute allotment as the 2nd guest, charmed my socks off with how she carries herself and how it's betrayed by a mischievous smile underneath gray-glass eyes. The story of her stuffed bunny Floppy joining the Rockettes was a sublime combination of wit, humor, and quirk.
So, I found myself on opening night driving 25 miles to the closest theater that screened 500 Days.
What is the mark of a great movie? Do you know it immediately, walking out of the theater slack jawed and googly eyed? Perhaps. Watchmen and Up did that to me, two movies I consider the best I've seen in 2009. 500 Days did not do that to me. My immediate post-screening reaction was rather muted. But it stayed with me for days. Its scenes, its music, its dialogues--they stuck in my head and has culminated in a need to write about it, something neither Watchmen nor Up accomplished.
(By the way, Watchmen Director's Cut DVD can be had for $17 and change at Wal-Mart. Score!)
***
It is a simple plot: Tom falls in love with Summer and then struggles when she breaks up with him. We've all seen this a million times, right? But some combination of the acting, writing, directing in 500 Days nailed it better than most. Perhaps because it is not chronological. It opens with the break-up scene over a crappy cafe breakfast. "I think we should stop seeing each other," Summer says, and then proceeds to chow down. Meanwhile, Tom is devastated, gets up, and walks away. The reality of every failed relationship is changed feelings. Sometimes, rarely, it is mutual. Mostly, one is more devastated than the other. The opening scene is a statement in that regard.
And then 500 Days bounces around, showing scenes from the beginning, the middle, the end, in what Roger Ebert describes as a "kaleidoscopic time structure" that "breaks the shackles of the three-act grid and thrashes about with the freedom of romantic confusion." Because, really, who recalls memories in strict chronology? We are invited to follow Tom in his triumphs, his heartaches, his confusions. We never really get a good look behind Summer. Too often, movies of this genre present everything in a neat little basket, replete with a bow on top. In 500 Days, the audience is merely Tom-niscient, and with Summer, what we get is what Tom gets. That's just the way it is in real life. You don't know what your partner is thinking. You can only surmise.
It is made effective by how well it was acted. Zooey Deschanel, well, we've been over that road. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is probably best known for his role as the kid in Third Rock From The Sun. His individual performance is fine, but together, they are Summer and Tom, and their chemistry is delightful. If you're not smiling by the end of their romp through IKEA, you, sir, need a heart transplant. In some scenes, the saccharine sweetness can get a bit nauseating, but isn't that what young adult romance is during the honeymoon stages? I bought it, and more importantly, I started to root for them. They BELONG together. "I don't want to get over her. I want to get her back," chokes Tom.
At the top, I called this a tragedy. Honestly, it's a subjective call. The ending can be considered happy, but then again, my interpretation of "the ending" is not the same as the chronologically presented one. A great movie needs not be revelatory; it can simply act as a mirror that allows you to empathize. Traditional romantic comedies fail to stir me because its plots are hackneyed and its characters are too transparent. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, obstacles abound. Snooze. 500 Days turns the paradigm on its head. It essentially has no plot, but is instead character driven. Boy loves girl, girl doesn't. Or does she? I sure hope she does. In our society where every relationship is a failed one except the current one you're in, that kind of romantic confusion is something everyone empathizes with.
With those four words followed an obsession by one Tom for one Summer. 500 Days of Summer is technically classified as a romantic comedy, which if so, would be one of the scarce few I have ever enjoyed. But I don't know about that. On the surface, that is its label, but on the whole, I think it is closer to a tragedy.
The movie is a little indie flick that would've flown under my radar if it wasn't for Zooey Deschanel. And I didn't even know who she was until 2 weeks ago when she appeared on Conan. If I hadn't had the TV on in the background tuned to NBC, who could say how the present would've turned out? Zooey, in her scant 7 minute allotment as the 2nd guest, charmed my socks off with how she carries herself and how it's betrayed by a mischievous smile underneath gray-glass eyes. The story of her stuffed bunny Floppy joining the Rockettes was a sublime combination of wit, humor, and quirk.
What is the mark of a great movie? Do you know it immediately, walking out of the theater slack jawed and googly eyed? Perhaps. Watchmen and Up did that to me, two movies I consider the best I've seen in 2009. 500 Days did not do that to me. My immediate post-screening reaction was rather muted. But it stayed with me for days. Its scenes, its music, its dialogues--they stuck in my head and has culminated in a need to write about it, something neither Watchmen nor Up accomplished.
(By the way, Watchmen Director's Cut DVD can be had for $17 and change at Wal-Mart. Score!)
***
It is a simple plot: Tom falls in love with Summer and then struggles when she breaks up with him. We've all seen this a million times, right? But some combination of the acting, writing, directing in 500 Days nailed it better than most. Perhaps because it is not chronological. It opens with the break-up scene over a crappy cafe breakfast. "I think we should stop seeing each other," Summer says, and then proceeds to chow down. Meanwhile, Tom is devastated, gets up, and walks away. The reality of every failed relationship is changed feelings. Sometimes, rarely, it is mutual. Mostly, one is more devastated than the other. The opening scene is a statement in that regard.
And then 500 Days bounces around, showing scenes from the beginning, the middle, the end, in what Roger Ebert describes as a "kaleidoscopic time structure" that "breaks the shackles of the three-act grid and thrashes about with the freedom of romantic confusion." Because, really, who recalls memories in strict chronology? We are invited to follow Tom in his triumphs, his heartaches, his confusions. We never really get a good look behind Summer. Too often, movies of this genre present everything in a neat little basket, replete with a bow on top. In 500 Days, the audience is merely Tom-niscient, and with Summer, what we get is what Tom gets. That's just the way it is in real life. You don't know what your partner is thinking. You can only surmise.
It is made effective by how well it was acted. Zooey Deschanel, well, we've been over that road. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is probably best known for his role as the kid in Third Rock From The Sun. His individual performance is fine, but together, they are Summer and Tom, and their chemistry is delightful. If you're not smiling by the end of their romp through IKEA, you, sir, need a heart transplant. In some scenes, the saccharine sweetness can get a bit nauseating, but isn't that what young adult romance is during the honeymoon stages? I bought it, and more importantly, I started to root for them. They BELONG together. "I don't want to get over her. I want to get her back," chokes Tom.
At the top, I called this a tragedy. Honestly, it's a subjective call. The ending can be considered happy, but then again, my interpretation of "the ending" is not the same as the chronologically presented one. A great movie needs not be revelatory; it can simply act as a mirror that allows you to empathize. Traditional romantic comedies fail to stir me because its plots are hackneyed and its characters are too transparent. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, obstacles abound. Snooze. 500 Days turns the paradigm on its head. It essentially has no plot, but is instead character driven. Boy loves girl, girl doesn't. Or does she? I sure hope she does. In our society where every relationship is a failed one except the current one you're in, that kind of romantic confusion is something everyone empathizes with.
