| (500) Days of Summer [DVD] – Knatter Mar 9th 2012, 12:58 Rating: Amazon Price: £19.99 £5.00 You save: £14.99 (75%). (as of 09/03/2012 13:02 - Details). Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on the Amazon site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. 500 Days of Summer is like the American Apparel of movies, in that tries really hard to be hip–so hard it sometimes evokes an involuntary cringe. The perfect soundtrack (indie-pop infused with cleverly ironic 80's hits), the smart cinematography, the occasionally broken fourth wall… It's a natural progression from mid-00's "youth-culture" flicks like Garden State and it does a good job rounding out the decade. Everything in this dramedy resembles a music video and the characters are twentysomethings once again not living up to their full potential. 500 Days of Summer is touted as being really unique and original–it's not. But that's not to say that it's not worth watching; it is, and mostly because of the leads. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel play a couple whose relationship story is told through a series of out-of-order flashbacks. The non-linear storytelling means we hop moment to moment from sweet, romantic and fun to crushingly desperate and sad, because the ultimate point here is that even when we believe we may have found The One, said soulmate might not feel the same way.
Gordon-Levitt is an exciting actor to watch and after a succession of very serious, very troubled roles, it's a pleasure to see him here as a mostly well-adjusted young guy whose biggest problem is that he loves someone who doesn't love him back. He's the hero, and as such, Deschanel's Summer Finn becomes the bad guy a little bit. But Deschanel plays it all big-eyed, conflicted and real and so you can't help but forgive her. The much-lauded musical scene is tremendously joyful; if it doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing will. 500 Days of Summer isn't groundbreaking, but it's an entertaining movie about hip, beautiful people whose lives you can only enjoy for about two hours before getting back to your own.–Kira Canny, Amazon.com Stills from (500) Days of Summer (Click for larger image)
Product Details - Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Moretz, Matthew Gray Gubler
- Directors: Marc Webb
- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 12
- Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: 18 Jan 2010
- Run Time: 95 minutes
- ASIN: B002KKBMSW
Customer Reviews Boy meets girl…and the rule book gets torn up. 54 of 57 people found the following review helpful 10 Sep 2009 By A Dawson Before seeing this, I had already pigeon-holed this as the typical rom-com concept that's been flogged to death of late. Salvation I thought, may come in it's indie-like feel having seen a trailer. After going to 'keep the peace' with my girlfriend, I've come away very pleasently surprised.
The basic plotline of 'boy meets girl' may start the film, but a short way into it's running time, it's apparent this is going somewhere different.
The film's structure is all over the place chronologically. It's timeline moves back and forth with fevered intensity, but works all the better for it(Helpfully, for those not paying attention, each of the 500 days in question is numbered onscreen).
Refreshingly, much of the standard material normally seen in this sort of fare is missing.
Both leads are hugely appealing and likable, displaying believable chemistry together when scenes call for it.
The director, and the two screenwriters are male, which I found lent the Joseph Gordon Levitt's Tom the more sympathetic edge. Zooey Deschanel's title character Summer however, comes across as a representation of every woman man has failed to truely understand. Anyone who is a fan of author Mike Gayle, will find similarities of his work here.
For a film such as it is, the overall tone is decidedly pro male and ever so slightly dark, but don't let that put you ladies off. There are some nice moments of light comedy, and the 'morning after' scene is superb. Another, demonstrating a key moment with both 'expectation' and 'reality' using a splitscreen is particularly poignant. And somewhere buried in the material, yes, there is ultimately romance as well.
The soundtrack is excellent and subtley used, making a marked change from the likes of One Republic being blasted out.
I saw this in a screen packed with about 80% women, most of which seemed to to leave smiling, having enjoyed it immensely. Despite my initial protestations, I'm not ashamed to say it had the same affect on me. Wise, funny and enchanting romantic comedy for grown-ups 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful 4 July 2010 By William Cohen I loved this film. About 30 minutes after I had finished watching it, I realised just why. The whole thing ends up with a man and a woman having a heavy conversation on a bench in a park. That's happened to me three times, so the bitter sweet nature of this film was a real tonic. It manages to be realistic, and at the same time heartwarming. I love the sophisticated wit, the super soundtrack and the sublime, vulnerable beauty of the leading lady. It occasionally uses a few hackneyed devices like the co-worker and the very young sister, but overall it surprised me with its depth and subversive take on the rom com genre. The tagline is true 19 of 22 people found the following review helpful 12 Feb 2010 By seun This is not a love story. This is a story about love. Exactly right. Forget your Hugh Grants, your comic misunderstandings, boy meets girl, loses her, gets her back with the help of some wacky friends (usually gay) while living in an extremely white version of London or painfully cool New York type of romcom. 500 Days…is a true and funny (not to mention sometimes uncomfortable) look at relationships and their difficulties. It has to be said, this is much more from the man's POV than usual romcoms. As such, Summer doesn't come off as 100% likeable but then why should she? She's a well drawn character, not something out of a Richard Curtis film. In any case, I'd recommend this to blokes if they want to laugh at themselves, and recommend it to women who want a better understanding of their men. Put it this way: I laughed more than my wife did. And my favourite film is Night of the Living Dead. Unconventional Rom-com 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 5 Jan 2012 By Kirby To be honest, when I went to the cinema to see this I was skeptical at first. Expecting the usual cliche ridden rom com I was delighted when this turned to be very unique and funny. I loved how the love story was told through the guys eyes for a change, especially as the character Tom is extremely likable. The whole vibe of the film is very indie/retro so if that's your style, this is for you. However, the reach goes farther than the hipster crowd as the story and characters are down to earth and fun. I keep coming back to this film and it's now one of my very favourites. I highly recommend it. Cuts through the treacle 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 31 Dec 2011 By Courtney Mower Smart, unexpected and totally wonderful this film was so much better than expected. I have never been one for the boring and standard boy-meets-girl rom coms where you know what will happen from the opening credits, so this was an absolute joy. A film that flips the premise of rom-coms on it's head and takes a refreshing, real look at relationships but that still gives you that glimmer of a happy ending that we all love. The acting is superb, the script clever and funny (but not laugh-out-loud funny and only when called for), the plot is original and unexpected and the whole thing is just a joy. No Complaints 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 4 Nov 2011 By Dimbot £2. No postage fee. Arrived swiftly. Perfect sealed condition. Very pleased. While not as good as I remembered, it's a great story about how love doesn't always work out the way it does in the movies. Great film 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 21 Jun 2011 By Alex Love the film, plus the included free digital copy for iPhone/iPod/M4V player is brilliant for watching the film on the go. Not what I expected – so much better 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 26 May 2011 By k "k1" So when my friend told me about this I thought 'typical rom com' and even though I love rom coms I thought this was going to be your typical one so I wasn't expecting too much. But I was suprised. First of all the casting was great I wouldn't change it and the acting was great too, the main guy (who's name I can't remember but not because he's not worth remembering) was brilliant in his role and his expressions and body language was humerous when it needed to be and serious when it needed to be, very impressed with him and on the lookout for other things he's been in. Zoe was equally as good and I liked that her character was unpredictable. Infact, this whole film was unpredictable, and it is filmed over 500 days, not always in the correct order so it was hard to follow a little in places but you soon catch on. I liked the story line, and it was so much more realistic than your usual rom com style film, hence the fact that it's about love and not a love story. I would definately recommend this film, and I will be watching it again.Some funny moments and the script was great, if you look up quotes for this film you'll see what I mean. Fantastic, if this is your sort of thing you'll love it. Brilliant absolutely brilliant 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 3 April 2011 By B. M. Walker Loved every second of it. Originality, great ideas, wit , humour amd the lead characters did a GREAT JOB. Check out the brilliantly done musical piece. A MUST 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 4 Mar 2011 By pinkbunnylugs I watch a lot of movies, but I never saw this one in the cinema. I watched it on DVD because a friend picked it out.
I have now seen it about five times. It is witty, well put together and not your average rom-com, but a very realistic touching film. Brilliant soundtrack and a good script. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fanastic, he is going to go far.
I couldn't recommend it any more!  | |
Written by ![(500) Days of Summer [DVD]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sd5r1PPdAXTz3ZDaPWNhmZNi1WjsRJGKMnpmjMmi6bSXNLZ6NE59RhsEZyv0lDa52Fp6ucPZbX376pqSzF5ouCSySKUcqkrXH5YaVB95pSeB9YZgSbXBfHRRnxFmYQeNQ=s0-d)
![(500) Days of Summer [DVD]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tLjwEPye9eiZsdmyhajmpgszJ0mlXFjv89YGQECPDX_qMZrcYE0uABYdtOn8-lBeuuaS92W6jg0qeNHzL9xPcGpdrpLjGwzmf8fS_x7zZBfpYnyRCbP04OSRMOt9XMS8T-Ox-VSUeKpI2KH-BK6w5qvdJ0TiPCCe-UIpNqlspyNYPq=s0-d){kind=small}