Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

"This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know upfront: This is not a love story."

So begins (500) Days of Summer, the most honest and inventive romantic comedy since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and almost certainly the best. The boy in question is Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). He studied architecture, but is currently writing greeting cards. Tom doesn't necessarily find this soul-crushing, because he's good at it and seems content; it's more like running in place. The girl is Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), who is described as being of average height, average weight, and slightly above average shoe size, but with the unusual effect of making almost every human male fall in love with her.

Of course, Tom succumbs to her charms. She is hired as his boss' assistant, and from the moment Tom sees her, he's hopeless. They both like the Smiths and can talk about J.D. Salinger stories endlessly. Tom believes he's found his soulmate. But when the whole office goes out for karaoke night, Tom discovers that Summer doesn't believe in true love and doesn't want to be anyone's girlfriend. Still, little by little, they enter into a relationship, and Tom remains convinced that he can change her mind. He can't.

True to its word, (500) Days of Summer is not a love story. Rather, it is the story of one person in love, desperately hoping the other will reciprocate his feelings, only to be confronted by the inevitable truth that she won't. Like Eternal Sunshine, it bounces around in non-linear fashion, starting on day 288 of Tom and Summer's relationship and going back and forth to show us exactly how and when it failed. One scene, you'll see Tom soaring high on the wings of love, strutting around town in a hilarious musical number, only to cut to a few hundred days later when he's depressed and stumbling through life like a zombie.

The unconventional structure employed by screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, making a tremendous leap from The Pink Panther 2, is a big reason why the film is as unique and enchanting as it is. There's a real exuberance in how they and director Marc Webb, in his stellar feature debut, reinvent the romantic comedy. The movie has no problem departing from reality or breaking the fourth wall, like in the aforementioned musical number or spoofs of Fellini and Bergman films, not to mention a dozen other little things it would be unfair to reveal. The filmmakers know that the audience has seen a million similar boy meets girl tales, so they invite us along for the ride, playing with our expectations. This has got to be the most endearing film of the year.

Article Author: Arlo J. Wiley

Arlo J. Wiley is an aspiring filmmaker who has a deep love of movies, music, television, and most other artforms. He co-hosts the Gobbledygeek podcast and maintains its blog, which you can find at http://gobbledygeekbtr.wordpress.com.

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