Review of (500) Days of Summer (2009) by James E — 19 Feb 2013

While trying to help a friend cope after a destructive relationship, the old saying, "there's plenty of fish in the sea" might come out of your mouth to try to give the person hope. Although this statement is true in many situations, it is not believable when someone thinks that it was their soul mate who broke up with them. This brings us to the story of Tom Hanson from the film (500) Days of Summer. The film tells the story of an ordinary guy named Tom who is played by the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The movie covers the 500 days that Tom was with, who he believed to be, his soul mate. It brings the viewer on a journey from when Tom meets, gets dumped, and tries to compensate for the mental and emotional misery that Summer has brought upon him. Summer is played by the actress Zooey Deschanel.

Marc Webb the director, as well as the screen writers Micheal Weber, and Scott Neustadter play around with the order of this film quite a bit. They do not tell the story of the 500 days in order. Throughout the film there are cuts from the present to the future. These cuts allow the viewer to be able to see the comparisons as Tom and Summer fall in and out of love. The way this movie is filmed is incredibly unique and works very well for the story line. I feel like they filmed this movie to relate to the average human and how they remember such memories. Webb makes this film link randomly while being non linear, by using the flashbacks and flash-forwards.

In a relationship, it seems important for you and your soul mate to be part of the same "clan". This theme is noticeable and significant in the film (500) Days of Summer. When Tom is in the elevator at work listening to his music, Summer overhears the song through the headphones. She began to sing along with the song and Tom seemingly fell in love with her instantly. This incident sparked the first conversation between the two of them. Although Tom seemingly fell in love at first sight, sharing the same taste in music is not a good thing to solely base a relationship on. Tom's little sister, played by actress Chloe Moretz, stated to him after the break up, "Just because she likes the same bizarro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate.".

Throughout the story, we learn that the relationship between Tom and Summer starts off strong but slowly goes downhill while the film progresses. Summer realizes this, but Tom is completely oblivious to the facts because he feels so in love. This makes Summer seem like the bad person in the movie. When we think about it in more detail however, Summer did nothing wrong. When the two of them started talking and got closer, Summer specifically said that she did not want anything serious. The way Webb set up her character, forces the audience to gradually have feelings of dislike for Summer that get larger and larger with progression.

When watching ordinary love films, the viewer can usually predict that the two characters in love will end up together no matter what happens. This prediction is easy to make because it is so common in movies. This prediction is completely unrealistic in society today. Webb changes the cliché, allowing the viewer to realize that there is not going to be a predictable happy ending for the two of them. A very impacting scene where this is observed is when Tom finds out that Summer has gotten engaged. When he finds out, the cue for sad music come into play as Tom walks away with watery eyes.

Towards the end of the film, when things couldn't get more hopeless and sad, Tom meets a new girl. While going for a job interview Tom meets a girl in the waiting room. This is one of the best scenes in the film. The movie ends with the new girl introducing herself as Autumn, when Tom asks her out for a coffee. With this introduction to Autumn, the audience gains a realization. We gain a connection to the film and realize that previous relationships we might have had, while being miserable but fun at some points, should not have impacted you as much as it might have. It was just a step towards reaching something new and better. We learn from lessons in our past.

The best thing about (500) Days of Summer is how easy it is to relate to. It is very aspiring with its storytelling. This was Webb's first attempt at directing a movie, and he showed much talent and skill. Since it was the directors first, it feels like a really original plot. If another director took this challenge on, it could have easily became an emotionless boring test in editing. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel show a lot of their great acting skills in this film. They both get to take the spotlight instead of being a supporting actor like other films they've acted in. This film carries more than enough romance and humour as well as a great amount of intellectual depth. The strengths of this film definitely outweigh the weaknesses.