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"(500) Days of Summer," which currently has an 87%
approval rating at Rottentomatoes.com, is a wonderfully
refreshing experience, a romantic comedy that doesn’t follow
the rules of a romantic comedy. It’s inventive, intelligent,
and engaging, a story of the dualities a young man lives
with on a daily basis. On the one hand, there’s the duality
between falling in love and believing that love doesn’t
exist; Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) grew up believing in fate
bringing soul mates together whereas Summer (Zooey Deschanel)
grew up not believing in much of anything, least of all
lasting relationships. ***
On the other hand, there’s the duality between what
one would like to happen and what actually does happen;
we often go through life with expectations, even though
we know deep down that most will never be met. Tom is in
a tug-of-war between his romantic fantasies and the reality
that Summer doesn’t believe in true love. ***
Levitt’s performance is a revelation. He plays Tom
with sincerity. Tom is approachable and good natured, highly
confident yet not so above-it-all that he can’t be desperate
and miserable at times. He writes greeting cards for a living
but has always dreamed of becoming an architect, and he
often finds inspiration from the Los Angeles skyscrapers
that surround him. ***
His story unfolds in much the same way a memory does,
with fragments that pop up all out of sequence until the
reality of those 500 days become clear. Some may be confused
by this, but keep in mind that memory and chronological
order never go hand in hand. This is especially true when
reflecting on a relationship. Tom continuously thinks back
trying to make sense of it all, only to end up considering
the possibility that Summer was right all along. ***
Deschanel, who seemed so awkward in films like "Yes
Man" and "The Happening," here is perfectly cast. Summer
is charming, fun, and sweet, but she’s also mysterious,
distant, and casual about life. She dates Tom and even makes
love to him, yet she will never see him as anything more
than a friend. She’s with him not because she’s in love--she’s
just having fun while living in the moment. ***
It’s about all she can do given the fact that she can’t
love anything, save for the length of her hair and the fact
that she can cut it off without feeling anything. There
are a few select moments, however, when she connects with
Tom at a more personal level, inviting him into her artsy
apartment and eventually opening up about past experiences.
This makes Tom feel appreciated, as he believes, perhaps
correctly, that she doesn’t go this far with too many people.
***
By the end of the film, Tom feels like someone we’ve
gotten to know. Summer, on the other hand, remains enigmatic,
underscoring the uncertainty engrained in any kind of relationship.
There are times when Tom thinks he has her figured out.
There are other times when it seems as if they’ve never
even met. Loving relationships are based on compromises,
and while Tom would be willing to make a few, Summer most
definitely would not. She does what she wants when she wants
it. This is admirable, but when matters of the heart are
involved, the line does need to be drawn somewhere. ***
Tom’s emotional roller coaster ride occasionally gets
the visual treatment. In one scene, he becomes the star
of a musical number featuring dancers and a cartoon bluebird.
In another scene, he imagines himself as characters in black
and white European art house films by Ingmar Bergman and
Federico Fellini. ***
The single most creative shot has him standing in the
middle of the street while the buildings transform into
an architectural sketch, much like the one he drew on Summer’s
arm. Director Marc Webb treats these scenes not as showcases
of special effects but as special moments of heightened
reality, which is fitting given the battle waged between
what Tom desires and what he actually gets. The most obvious
interpretation of this theme is a split-screen image late
in the film, one side marked "Expectations," the other side
marked "Reality." ***
These extra touches make this movie enjoyable, but its
Gordon and Deschanel that make it a joy to watch. They have
chemistry. You believe in them as actual people and not
merely as characters. They show just how talented they are
as actors, although credit must also be given to Webb’s
direction and the screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael
H. Weber. They breathe life into "(500) Days of Summer,"
a film we’re told right off the bat is not a love story.
***
Nor should it be; we’ve seen love stories before, and
while they more or less work as entertaining distractions,
rarely do they provide insight or even traces of plausibility.
This movie is more ambitious than that.
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