An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.
-Source: IMDB
Remember the dream girl you met in your life once. You liked her hair, the way she speaks. You liked her for everything. But then, she is so far away, beyond your grasp. You just can't understand her. Like a cloud that just floated by.
Well, that's what 500 Days Of Summer is about.
The title actually had a double meaning incidentally. Summer as in the season and Summer as in the name of the female lead's name.
The story is just like your average romantic comedy. Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is a guy who believes in true love and destiny. He doesn't really think that one has to go and fight for the one true love in your life. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is a girl who doesn't believe in love. Quite an unlikely match? Well, that's what happens eventually as Tom tries to hard to change Summer's mind and become a couple instead.
Of course, what this film differs from other romantic comedies is how real and honest it portrays love. The fuzzy warm feeling was emanated by Joseph's character while the doubtful, restrained personality was shown via Zooey's character. Other romantic comedies like to paint this false, utopian image when most of the time, life ain't so. 500 Days Of Summer triumphs in how it shows you more and injects more emotion with that subtlety.
What's more, the structure actually complements this. The film presents Tom's story in jumbled order. Simply to say, it's not chronological. But isn't that how life is? You don't remember it like clockwork, you just recall the happy and painful memories, laying them side by side.
The lead actor and actress did an excellent job in their roles. I only noticed Joseph Gordon Levitt after watching Inception. In Inception, he brought out this image of a serious, no-nonsense type of organizer as Arthur. But this film showed to me his versatility. He handled the comedy in this film pretty well. Also, his chemistry with Zooey Deschanel is astounding. Zooey on the other hand, played the role of this "hard to get" girl who is beautiful and smart naturally. There wasn't this sense of the show being staged or scripted. It just flowed so naturally.
Being the first directorial debut of Marc Webb (who will direct the upcoming The Amazing Spiderman). This is a very strong and memorable entry into the romantic comedy genre. Who knows maybe he will just make a unique super hero movie as well?
