Bros, I must warn you about this movie. This is not a date movie, unless you’re looking to get your girlfriend to break up with you. The basic premise is that the (500) Days of Summer are 500 days about a relationship.
Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 3rd Rock from the Sun) falls in love with a woman in his office named Summer (Zooey Deschanel). The script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber is awesomely original and director Marc Webb plays the notes of the relationship well as he jumps back and forth within the 500 days. A trip to Ikea that’s a drag later in their relationship jumps to early in it when they are having a great time. In that respect, the movie is great at playing around with different moments and contrasting them. Bouncing around from Tom’s immensely happy days to his worst.
There’s a great supporting casts of quirky characters that try and help Tom. (Spoiler alert) But things eventually go downhill as Summer never quite loves Tom the way he is madly in love with her. That’s why, bros, you should think twice about bringing your girl to the movie. If you are in the same kind of uneven relationship that Tom is in, this story is a perfect excuse for your girlfriend to reevaluate and think if she can do better. Be warned.
From a story stand point, I didn’t quite buy Summer’s deal. I felt the movie fell just a tad short at telling the audience why she didn’t love Tom. There’s a montage at the end where Tom reevaluates and looks at some of the not-so-good moments. They’re not really that informative. I would’ve liked to have seen something stronger there. Maybe Tom was just in love with the idea of her being his soulmate. The montage doesn’t miss by much though. Also, they cut that bus shot out of the movie that appears in the trailer. God, that annoys me. What’s up with that? Now I gotta buy a DVD to see the two minutes of cut footage?
Still, it’s a pretty solid movie. And if you’ve just had your heart broken, you’re gonna love it because it delves into the pre, during and post relationship stuff. Although I will say that as much as women get judged by their looks in movies, men always seem to get judged by the breadth of their ambition. Unambitious guys are bad, so when Tom quits his job to pursue his dream that somehow makes him a better person. Maybe. Or maybe some people are happy where they’re at. I don’t know, it just seems to ALWAYS be a factor in these sorts of relationship movies. If the woman is actualizing her man into something better, than she’s not doing her job somehow.
Anyhow, analysis aside, it’s an interesting movie, different, nicely paced. I give it 7 keggers out of 10. But remembering my warning bros. Unless of course, you WANT to break up with your girlfriend…
