Review of (500) Days of Summer (2009) by Gregory M — 12 Oct 2012

A very pleasant film which actually revolves more around two very different perspectives on fate, destiny and life. It's a fantastic take on the boy meets girl scenario. Tom's agenda when it comes to love, which is seemingly far fetched, causes his friends to get fed up with him. I got fed up with him. The failure of his old school approach to life in the field of love almost leaves him without anything to hold onto. With his head out of the clouds(after Summer is gone) he frees himself from monotony. Without having ever met summer, he never would have detached himself from his evidently flawed perspective on love.

Summer has no agenda and doesn't necessarily seem bound to any traditional values when it comes to love. If you read between the lines, her perspective is very simple, but it's not without its many downsides. Life is: you meet people, connect, feel strongly for them maybe, but at some point, you have to move on or something has to change. It's the last part that made things seem like she was to blame for Tom's grief. She wasn't ready to move on with Tom so it she ended it.

What makes this film shine is that hardly ever does an outside proponent help make or break Summer or Tom's relationship. To add to an amazingly told story, the film ends leaving you guessing at each character's true fate. It's a happy ending because you see both very real and well portrayed characters move on with their lives, even though you're not quite sure if Summer is actually happy with her new life, or if Tom will ever forgive her breaking his heart.