He Said, She Said: (500) Days of Summer
By Caroline Thibodeaux
August 4, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The convention seems simple enough, but the story is told in an unconventional fashion. Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen (every time his name was said I thought of the Atlanta Braves pitching staff and 21 Jump Street), an erstwhile architect wannabe settling for a job as a greeting card writer. New to the office is Summer (Deschanel), the boss's pretty assistant. He falls for her quickly and hard, and to his joy and surprise finds himself dating her. Told from Tom's point of view, the story unfolds in non-linear fashion. Utilizing this technique, the writers - Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber - tell the story of this relationship in the same manner as Tom looks back on it. Cutting back and forth interspersing Tom's days of elation with his days of abject depression, the storytelling curve never exactly ignores the beginning, middle and end of the story, it just never really feels compelled to unfurl in that order.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is absolutely fantastic in this role. He's compiling quite the resume lately with strong performances in The Lookout Stop-Loss and Brick. He provides Tom with such simplicity of truth and humanity, it's impossible to not root for him from the outset. Zooey Deschanel is fine, but she's not doing anything that I haven't seen her do more than a few times now. She's lovely, but she seems to be relying again on a cute, quirky affectedness that sometimes makes me thinks she's acting through a temporary flare up of Asperger's. And it's not always easy for her in this one. She's playing a character that can at times be infuriating. That said, I have a feeling that Deschanel is capable of further depth and I hope to see her go there soon. I did love watching Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel play off each other – they have a natural ease and chemistry about themselves together which made their on-screen relationship seem that much more believable. (They also worked together on Havoc.)
The writing in this film is admirable. The script is a neat blend of the humorous and the poignant and for the most part provides the actors with great characterizations and dialogue. Tom Hansen comes across as very real. I think everyone knows a guy just like him. And although I would have liked to have seen Summer's character more thoroughly fleshed out (What does she want to do with her life?), it makes sense that she's not quite complete because of the point of view. Tom idealizes Summer and although he may or may not know what her aspirations are beyond being a secretary, it is never an important reveal within the story because Tom's memory (the only way we can know Summer) is more preoccupied with how being with her made him feel and eventually how that relationship affects his life and his growth. In that respect, his idealization of her is more important than whom she might really be.
Armed with a great soundtrack and script, a game and willing cast and a collection of charming LA locations, veteran music video director Marc Webb makes an impressive jump in his feature film debut. He's definitely the right choice. The music in this film is just as an important component of the movie as is the storytelling device. Tom and Summer's first interaction is over a song by The Smiths. Their first hang is during a karaoke blow-out. The first Morning After is celebrated – as it should be - by a big, fat Broadway-style musical production number. Webb's choices are never intrusive. He displays a light, deft touch with his actors and the scenes. Tom and Summer are shot so closely together and in such a way it made me feel like I was peeking in on the secret of their romance. It should be interesting to see what Webb will do for an encore.
The creative team behind this film seems determined for (500) Days to not resemble the usual rom-coms the studios are pumping out these days – movies with idiotic hooks involving women marrying strangers in order to keep a good job or being so neurotically obsessed about a wedding that the only real denouement should include intensive psychoanalysis and mind-altering drugs. As someone who enjoys a good romance and likes to laugh, I often find a lot of the recent offerings insulting. I found a lot of (500) Days definitely funny, if not always romantic. I remember reading a blurb somewhere by Gordon-Levitt where he declared that they wanted to avoid the trappings of other rom-com movies on this movie and create something different. I think that was achieved. The audience is told from the outset by the Narrator – "This is not a love story" and indeed it is not. It's more of a chronicle, really - of how a relationship between one man and one woman eventually made that one man better prepared for life and made that one woman better prepared for love.
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