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A paixão é algo irresistível, mas também assustador. Eu sei disso. Você sabe disso. E o Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sabe muito bem disso. Mesmo assim, graças à precoce exposição a músicas pop, ele cresceu acreditando que jamais seria feliz a menos que encontrasse a pessoa certa.

É aí que entra Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), a garota com a qual ele passará 500 dias inesquecíveis (uns felizes, outros nem tanto).

Esta premissa é o ponto de partida deste filme delicioso e apaixonante. Graças ao talento do diretor Marc Webb, (500) Dias Com Ela (‘500 Days of Summer’, 2009) consegue ser um dos melhores do ano e uma das grandes comédias românticas do cinema.

Esqueça essas coisas sem alma feitas por Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher e cia. (500) Dias Com Ela pega todos os clichês do gênero e os recria com curiosa originalidade, abusando de ferramentas metalinguísticas e referências à nossa cultura e àquilo que consumimos sem culpa (séries de tevê, filmes, músicas). É divertidíssima, por exemplo, a cena em que Tom se dá conta de que Summer é mesmo diferente, quando, no elevador, ela revela que ama a banda The Smiths.

E, se em Juno, o roteiro era extraordinário por colocar palavras ácidas e inteligentes na boca de uma adolescente, espere até ouvir os diálogos espertinhos de (500) Dias Com Ela. No filme de Marc Webb, os personagens falam coisas que eles deveriam estar mesmo falando, mas de forma muito mais divertida e descolada (odeio essa palavra).

Do início ao fim, Webb busca romper com o comum usando recursos outrora recorrentes (tela dividida, narração, flashback), mas que aqui, de tão bem realizados, fazem todo o sentido para compreendermos as personagens em tela. A sequência em que Tom vai à festa na casa de Summer e vemos, de um lado sua Expectativa e do outro a Realidade, enquanto a música de Regina Spektor diz “he never ever saw it coming at all”, é de uma fodelância absurda (tradução: genial). Essa passagem, inclusive, me deixou emocionadíssimo, tamanha sua simplicidade.

E o diretor brinca o tempo todo com a metalinguagem, às vezes de forma mais clara, como a sequência do musical ou quando Tom se vê refletido na tela do cinema, mas principalmente disfarçada de conteúdo: (500) Dias Com Ela é uma história de amor em que seu personagem principal, seu herói, culpa todas as histórias de amor criadas, seja no cinema, seja na música, por fazer as pessoas se frustrarem ao desejar algo que, aparentemente, não existe na vida real: a famigerada alma gêmea. É curiosíssimo como o filme tenta subverter (de mentirinha, claro) tal convenção, mesmo que por fim acabe se rendendo a ela.

Apesar disso tudo, (500) Dias Com Ela é mesmo um filme de personagens. Assim como o competente Apenas o Fim, é na dinâmica entre os protagonistas que a produção brilha. Joseph Gordon-Levitt e Zooey Deschanel finalmente encontraram os papéis de suas vidas.

Carismático, Gordon-Levitt pode até exagerar um pouquinho nas expressões (quando ele está depressivo, principalmente), mas seu olhar de apaixonado é tão sincero e genuíno, que basta. Já Zooey Deschanel… puta merda, juro que em muitos momentos desisti de ler a legenda só pra ficar olhando em seus olhos. Sabendo que a atriz não é lá muito talentosa (vide Fim dos Tempos), Marc Webb soube extrair o melhor da moça e a deixou ainda mais encantadora. Repare, por exemplo, como a personagem veste basicamente azul; isso a torna mais serena e fascinante.

Os fatores que me incomodam no filme são o excesso de vai e vens e os amigos do Tom, que servem como um desnecessário alívio cômico. Especialmente a garotinha a quem ele pede conselhos; qual o sentido da personagem ser uma criança? Para mostrar que ele é mesmo um cara inseguro e que seus amigos não entendem do amor e, por isso, não prestam para dar conselhos? A intenção é até que boa, mas para mim não rolou.

Mas isso de nada importa. Pois com uma trilha sensacional, roteiro afiado, atores em sintonia e um diretor com total domínio sobre sua obra, (500) Dias Com Ela é um filmaço.

Veja, reveja, ame, odeie, sinta.

I thought it was one of the better films I’ve seen about young love. Maybe the best since Annie Hall. But I couldn’t get away from the feeling that Summer was a robot. She has no feelings; she said as much in the film. She definitely was drawn in that idealized, movie-love-interest way; the filmmaker’s idea of quirkyness is that Ringo is her favorite Beatle. And the male character was, as well; as a greeting card writer with dreams of being an architect, not very realistic.

What I really like about the film is that it doesn’t have the conventional romance ending where the guy and the girl live happily ever after. Most of the relationships in your life will end, until you find the one that doesn’t. You learn something from the relationships that end, and you hurt for a while, then you move on and you remember them fondly.

I was hesitant to watch this movie as all I have heard are bad things but I rather liked it. I liked thinking about the interactions between the two characters, how Summer could be so fun-loving but not believe in love. I liked the parts where there was re-evaluation and deconstruction of the relationship and it made me think harder about interactions between the opposite sex. Also I hate that everyone hated Summer she said she didn’t believe in love, but she WAS looking for someone to prove her wrong. Tom could have, but instead was a pansy ass pushover and said he’d do whatever she wanted. There were two very clear instances in the movie where Summer was waiting for him to sweep her off her feet and Tom was dumbfounded by his infatuation and fear of rejection by her. That said that does not make up for the fact that Summer was a selfish character. She had no consideration for Tom by the end of the movie. But that’s is who these characters are and they are perfect representations of what real people are like. Which is what I liked about this movie. It also helps that I myself am absolutely in love with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The only thing I hated about the movie was the horrible ending with the suuuper corny play on the girls names (barf). The breaking out into dance in the middle of the street scene didn’t help either. Although the movie made me think, I don’t think I would ever watch it again.

Once I heard an anecdote titled as Trilemma of a Love Affair. The anecdote maps out the difficulty of an uneven romantic relationship. There are three things at stake: personal honesty, sincere support of the relationship, and intelligence. Of the three, you could only combine two of them, never all three. If you are honest and smart, you are not supportive of the relationship. If you are honest and supportive, you are not very smart. If you are smart and supportive of the relationship, you sure are not honest to yourself.

500 Days of Summer is the film that reminds me of this obscure anecdote. Indeed the film is about an uneven relationship. The premise lies in the 500 days where Tom Hansen and Summer Finn falls in and out of love. They sfirst meet in a business meeting. Tom works as a writer in the greeting card company, where Summer is just recently hired as the boss assistant. After a karaoke night, where Tom charmingly sings Pixies’ Here Comes Your Man, a drunken co-worker lets slip that Tom is attracted to Summer. Surprisingly the girl admits that she is interested in Tom too, and wants to be his friend. Predictably, over the next few months, Tom and Summer grow closer. In spite of their progress, Summer makes it clear to Tom that she does not believe in true love, and not interested in having a boyfriend.

In a relationship with a girl like Summer, separation is a constant imminent danger. She does only what she likes. No logic is expansive enough to reason her actions. She only caters to her interest, and that makes her actions hard to discern except by herself. Tom however forgets about this. No, he deliberately forgets about this. He is too in love with Summer. Not only she is charming to his eyes, Summer also likes the same bizarre stuff that Tom likes. Their first close encounter is marked by a conversation about the Smiths, and their second by a sudden kiss in the photocopy room. It is only matter of days till they sleep together, and live everyday like husband and wife. He simply could not resist her spell. Asking too much would simply ruin his relationship with Summer, and he does not want that.

Love might be short, but forgetting is always long. Tom experiences that painfully when Summer finally decides to end their relationship. He spend days questioning and questioning: what is wrong exactly?

What is wrong is that Tom mistakes his intimacy with Summer as an union, where it is actually an illusion of union. Erich Fromm, in his book The Art of Loving, describes romantic relationship in modern times as market-oriented. These days one goes into relationship after much objective analysis of one’s potential spouse. It does not mean that knowing others is not important before a relationship. In fact, Fromm acknowledges knowledge, along with care, responsibility and respect, as one of the four fundamentals of a helathy relationship. It means that love is something that can be learned through practice, patience, and good judgement.

Modern life however blurs that conception of love. Capitalism shows that everything can be measured in terms of economic value. Therefore, love nowadays tends to be measured in potentiality. Men seem to practice this more often than women. When a man comes into contact with another woman, he categorizes that her in terms of his interests: what is good for him, what is not, and so on. In other words, he is not looking for a person to love, he is looking for a type, the type of a woman that suits his needs and desires. Thus, the statement “I love you” has double meanings: “you are my type” and “I want you to be my possession.”

On the other hands, women are growing more and more self-aware. They know that they have certain power over men. Their power however is only devastating in interpersonal relationship. Patriarchy is too embedded in our society for women to totally reign over men. This results in, according to Simon de Beauvoir, men being defined as human beings and women as females. Whenever a woman behaves as a human being, she is said to imitate the male. Therefore, women could do what women do: possession through rejection. When a woman rejects a man, she possesses him by not possessing. Still feeling as a more superior entity, the man rejected will try to get her attention back. The rejection, which the woman utilizes as an act of possession, is seen by the man as mere obstacles. He will try to win her again and again, until he falls into a masochistic cycle of self-negation. The man will see his selfless act as a labor of love, while the woman considers it as a success in turning him into possession. This is what I mean as an uneven relationship, a growing trend in modern romance.

It is that symptom of modern romance that dooms Tom and Summer. Both are young moderns. Both are culturally refined and media savvy. On top of that, they are each other’s types. Tom looks for a girl that can match his musical taste, while Summer looks for a guy who can match her demented sense of humor. When they meet, they cannot help connecting to each other. However Tom misinterprets Summer’s accepting him as an act of submission. Tom does not know well her enough. Proximity for Tom is a step to legalized intimacy, while for Summer it is just a playground she can quit anytime she wants. In other words, she is just not that into him.

That is why their breakup shakes Tom so much. He is left alone thinking what is wrong with their relationship. The long period of self hating filters Tom’s memory so much that he only remembers the good parts. Until a few heart-to-heart talk with friends and relatives, Tom is never aware that his relationship with Summer is an uneven one, a relationship that is fragile at best and can crumble whenever Summer wants it to. In the end, after days of self-reflection, Tom finds another sweetheart, while Summer has moved on a long time ago.

Here’s one that’s been very polarizing among my friends. My friend Morgan hates this movie worse than Fred Phelps hates homosexuals. My friend Kevin thinks this movie is one of the top 5 movies of 2009. It’s hard to find a divide bigger than that. Kevin told me yesterday that if I blind-bought this movie, he’d happily take it off my hands at full price if I didn’t like it. Since you’re reading this, I took him up on it. Besides, I’ve got Zardoz coming from NetFlix, and I’m an impatient man.

Essentially what Marc Webb is doing here is an examination of a relationship between a boy and a girl from the male point of view, examining the relationship from A to Z, but not in that order. This approach takes a page out of Woody Allen’s playbook in how he put Annie Hall together, although Webb’s approach is considerably less post-modern. The fractured approach is an irritating one for the traditional rom-com loving movie-goer, but when examining a relationship after it’s over, it seems to be the only way to do it. It highlights the various ups and downs that people focus on. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom, a guy who studied to be an architect, but writes greeting cards for a living. The doe-eyed Zooey Deschanel plays the object of his desire, the titular Summer. Their romance isn’t quite what you’d expect, Tom falls for Summer, Summer likes Tom, but says that she isn’t looking for anything serious. Like anyone with love-goggles on, Tom thinks he’s okay with this, after all, he believes in true love and soul mates and all that stuff, and is sure Summer will come around. Of course, Tom’s love-blinders will lead him straight down the path of heartbreak, even though, hey, he got fair warning.

500 Days of Summer does have its irritating tendencies. Sometimes the movie is nice and subtle, other times it’s very on-the-nose, a good example being the final moment of the movie, which was a lousy note to end on (had Marc Webb recently watched Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring or something?). The expected (and inevitable) hipster exchanges do come here, thankfully they are few and far between (the Sid & Nancy bit was particularly painful, even though it makes sense). People who hate this movie (not Morgan, oddly enough) bring up the scene where Summer meets Tom in the elevator, where he is pretending to ignore her while listening to The Smiths on his headphones. She takes notice and mentions how much she likes them before walking out of the lift singing the song he was listening to. Tom believes he has been struck by cupid’s arrow, it’s one of those moments where people think they’re falling for someone over something silly like a shared interest, making it a moment that actually has something to offer, as opposed to a moment in another movie where the director is showing off his knowledge of indie music by having Natalie Portman shoehorn The Shins into the conversation, and thus the soundtrack. What happened here was, a moment I expected to cringe to ended up being on of my favorite moments in the movie.

I think people hate this movie because it thinks it’s more clever than it really is, but none of that stuff really bothered me the way it does in other movies aimed at people who shop at American Apparel. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t a color scheme. But anyone who has had a summer romance can find poignant insights within, it’s a hipster movie with something to say around some really lovely moments. It ain’t Wong Kar Wai or Charlie Kaufman, but it’s got the goods in its own way.

I think I might get Kevin to purchase the DVD from me anyway, I’m sort of a whore for Blu-Ray these days.

What appears to be another run-of-the-mill, quirky, indie rom-com, 500 Days of Summer is much deeper than the stupid collage poster makes it out to be. The film owes a lot to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but hey, not every can churn out a script like Kaufman does. The story is intriguing at best, but rather monotonous throughout most of the running time. The moments that really connect with the audience are few and in between, and it’s a shame because these small, fleeting moments are what really make this movie.

Zooey Deschanel goes on to prove that she can’t act for shit, and it’s no surprise that she was as blocky as she was in The Happening. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a legitimate character; he wears band shirts and listens to the Pixies, but are these neat little tidbits about the character, or just the hipster quality of this film shining out? This is the quintessential hipster film, as people spout out names and references (albeit much more subtler compared to Juno) that, literally, have nothing to do to advance the plot, aside from showing the audience what cool bands Marc Webb digs. Is this a sign of pretentiousness? It’s in the same vein as films like Garden State, Juno and High Fidelity, which were subtle vehicles for bands the creators liked.

Like mentioned before, there are rare moments that really stick with you. One scene shows Levitt attending Summer’s rooftop party, and the screen is split by a line directly down the middle: on the right we see what Levitt’s character is expecting from this visit, while on the left we get to see the reality of the situation. On the expectations side we see Levitt and Deschanel laughing and holding on to each other, while on the right Levitt mostly keeps to himself until he storms out of the apartment. Another scene involves a round-table discussion on one of his employee’s new line for greeting cards that consist of still pictures of cats doing goofy things. Levitt objects and tells them how stupid the idea is, and it’s true: nothing good can come from receiving an inspirational card featuring a cat poking a piano key.

I didn’t dislike this movie, but at the same time it’s not that great. Eternal Sunshine and High Fidelity managed to say pretty much the same thing, except they do it ten times better.

Ver 500 days of summer, es una tortura si da la casualidad de que se es un gran fanático del trabajo del cineasta judío de nombre Woody Allen (sí, el mismo que le robó una hija a Mia Farrow y que después convirtió en su esposa).
Es obvio que el señor Marc Webb es también un gran adorador del señor Allen, el hecho de que 500 días con ella se una copia (sí, copia o si lo prefiere plagio, pero ese término involucra a la ley y es mejor evitarla) del guión de la cinta Annie Hall de 1977 es el mayor error de la cinta o esta nueva oda al arte “indie” (cualquier cosa que eso signifique) o la nueva Little Miss Sunshine, como un buen amigo me comentó.
Obviamente no se trata de una copia al carbón, pero es notorio que el señor Webber hizo lo que muchos estudiantes de secundaria y preparatoria hacen cuando necesitan cumplir con una tarea, acceden al sitio de internet más próximo (generalmente Wikipedia) fácilmente seleccionan cualquier texto que abarque el mismo tema y oprimen Ctrl + C, acto seguido sólo se limitan a cambiar la redacción del mismo y sorpresa la tarea ha finalizado.
Es lógico que si Annie Hall estaba cargada de referencias hacia la gente que vivió en los años 60 y 70, en 500 days of summer las referencias se actualizan. Por eso el soundtrack incluye a Los Smiths, Regina Spektor, Black Lips, Wolfmother y algunos otros; sí antes jugaban tennis ahora wii, sí Annie Hall odiaba ver The sorrow and the pity ahora la piedrita en el zapato es una película de nombre Vagiant (espero no equivocarme, con el nombre). Creo que no es necesario seguir con las referencias que son obvias y hasta cierto punto una vez que el espectador lo nota, sabe que estas continuaran incesantemente.
En este momento querido lector debo pedirle un minuto de silencio………
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Bueno tal vez no fue un minuto, pero si usted también disfruto de la primera cinta de Spiderman realizada por Sam Raimi, debo darle la pésima noticia de que ha sido relevado por Mark Webb y que se rumorea que el actor principal será Robert Pattinson (sí, el mismo de las películas de Crepusculo).
Regresando al tema, hay que ser sinceros aquellos que han exclamado a 500 días con ella como una gran película, una buena película; debo decir que es claro que nunca han disfrutado del cine.
Pd. Si usted no ha visto la cinta detenga aquí su lectura, sino continúe. El detalle del final de la cinta, donde parece que nuevamente el protagonista conocerá el amor, solo para que la chica tenga el nombre de Autumn (Otoño). Es el peor momento de la historia del cine
Pd. La señorita Zooey Deschanel, es punto aparte y no me refiero a su actuación

Occasionally a non-clothing item is just so on-point with American Apparel’s target demographic that it finds its way to the retailer’s shelves alongside the shiny tights and deep-Vs. (The Vice Photo Book, that Hitachi vibrator, the new Simian Mobile Disco CD, etc.) I would not be remotely surprised, therefore, to see copies of (500) Days of Summer on offer the next time I stop in for some Slim Slacks.

Perhaps the ultimate hipster date movie, (500) Days of Summer is a charming reminder that heartbreak happens to boys, too – particularly if they’re slight of build and like their ties skinny. Free of saccharine chick flick clichés, it’s a romantic comedy told from the lovelorn perspective of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Tom Hansen. Tom falls hard for new co-worker Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), naively believing that she may be “the one.” Summer isn’t big on commitment, however, and its apparent from the start that their ending isn’t going to be a happy one.

(500) Days of Summer nonetheless provides a hopeful finale, with genuine laughs and several stylistic flourishes along the way. First-time director Marc Webb approaches the nonlinear narrative with an invigorating originality that complements the material perfectly, heightening expectation for his future projects. Gordon-Levitt and Deschannel, meanwhile, share a perfectly imperfect chemistry in a bittersweet scenario that will be readily recognizable to twentysomethings everywhere.

“(500) Days Of Summer” no es una pelicula, es una publicidad disfrazada de cine. Es una convención de todas las ideas mas básicas sobre lo que alguna vez fue bueno en el cine independiente, ahora ya no entendido como un cine márginal, desorbitado, descastado, sino mas bien como un género mas (lo “indie”), que se basa en planos lindos, tremendamente fotografiados, en postales de una ciudad siempre cool, con gente cool que escucha musica cool y que hablan de cosas cool. Es un empacho de cosas cool, que, a la larga, termina estallando en un vómito pop que poco tiene que ver con algo explosivo, enérgico. Todo esta pensado para arrebatar la sensibilidad del espectador “indie” que se va a sentir identificado con la hisotria de amor, único recurso plenamente cinematográfico que utiliza este producto, recurso que no es mas que una excusa para dar rienda suelta a la cita de canciones, peliculas, comidas, shoppings e incluso hasta de arquitectos. Que Belle and Sebastian por aca, que los Smiths por alla, un poquito de Bergman (¡Bergman!), “El Graduado” y el cocktail continúa extendiendose. Es una pena que una actriz tan cinemática como Zooey Descahnel haya caído presa de su propio sistema, lejos ya de la inocencia de esa gran pelicula de David Gordon Green que algun vez supo protagonizar, “All The Real Girls”, para ahora verse envuelta en su propio personaje completamente estereotipado de “chica-intelectualoide-que-te-va-a-romper-el-corazón”. “(500) Days Of Summer”, como “Juno” el año pasado, como “Little Miss Sunshine” un par de años atras, es (son) peliculas que pierden su honestidad, su libertad, a medida que se van encorsetando en su propia autoreferencialidad, a medida que van tomando conciencia de ésto. Miles de chicas queriendo ser Juno (sin quedar embarazadas, claro), miles de personas creyendo que la pelicula de Webb es buena “por qué la narración esta fragmentada”, miles de gente considerando que el cine independiente norteamericano es ésto, cuando en realidad esta lejos de ser todo, de ser canción, de ser cine, de ser minimamente ingeniosa. Queriendo mentir sobre lo único que es: una publicidad disfrzada de cine.

All I can say is wow. I had written off 2009 as an overall weak year for movies, which it was, but I wish I had the opportunity to see this one in the theater. The very definition of what the modern romantic comedy should be. It’s all the “cuteness” and romance without the bullshit. I think the thing that really sets this film apart from the rest is it’s realism. Yes, the film constantly breaks the fourth wall and yes there’s a dance number about a third of the way into the film (which was hilarious and unexpected by the way), but there’s something very real between Tom and Summer in the film that I think resonates with a lot of people. They’re a very modern couple, with modern issues. It’s not all explained, but when things go wrong you can really feel the pain of it. The film handles the extremes of joy and despair well, so much so that I found myself relating the characters feelings and issues to my own life. This is the romantic comedy for people who hate romantic comedy, and it succeeds on all counts. Probably my front runner for best picture of 2009.

Like a deeply boring imitation of Eternal Sunshine… and Annie Hall and this lesser known movie call Bad Timing by the brilliant Nicolas Roeg. Actors are blend, playing like the young people of today, more interested by pop culture of yesterday that is available in their i-pod than by developing their imagination and their self-discpline to be creative. I am only 29 years old, but I feel so little connected to this new generation. If it is what they can do in movies, they have a lot to learn, the first thing being that knowing about all the cool references you can quote is much less important than using your own personality as a foundation for your vision.

I’m catching on to this film a little late in the game, long after the initial flush of fab reviews and the odd flurry of hate-ons that followed, the latter of which really perplexes me.

Is it a cliche? If it was a boy-gets-girl story, then yes, but it establishes from the outset that the boy clearly doesn’t get the girl, and worse, she was never his to begin with.

Is it trying too hard to be an indie hipster flick, too cool for its own sake? It’s possible — who can prove it? — but I didn’t sense the strain of artificiality anywhere. The pop music references and soundtrack might verge on the overly trendy, but I believe it’s meant to be both sincere and ironic: simultaneously influencing a scene and deconstructing it since Tom asserts that pop music is to blame for his skewed notions of romance.

Is this teenage-fluff? I hardly think a teenager would truly understand the acceptance of losses that are depicted in this film. I know I wouldn’t have seen this the same way as a teen as I do now, having witnessed the unpredictable turns of life firsthand and experienced the bittersweet departures of loves lost. There are austere moments of genuine pathos in this film — simple, pitch-perfect, both funny and sad.

For a movie that isn’t about love everlasting, it was love at first sight for me.

Some thoughts:

— I need Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s wardrobe (which is convenient, as I appear to have half of it already)

— Hey look, it’s Intern #1 from The Life Aquatic!

— It manages to be honest, sweet, bitter and funny all at the same time.

— This is the best romantic comedy I’ve seen in years. And it is a romantic comedy, in that it’s a comedy about romance, not a comedy that uses “romance” to force some hapless girl along a tenuous plot straight into the arms of Matthew McConaughey. Trust me, I wrote a Masters dissertation about romantic comedies, so I’ve decided I’m now an authority on these matters. So there.

— It took ages for me to work out that it’s set in LA. It actually makes LA look like a nice place, which is quite impressive.

—This film would sit nicely on a shelf with with High Fidelity (for its male perspective of romantic retardation), Little Children (for its awesomely gruff narration) and Fight Club (for its respectful use of Pixies’ song)

— Despite all the Graduate referencing, Annie Hall is the clear inspiration here. And you know what? It’s better than Annie Hall.

— Joseph Gordon-Levitt has now joined my Must-Play-Bilbo-Baggins-At-Once list

— It cares about all the important things: design, music, clothes, films

— I now really want to read Alain de Botton’s The Architecture of Happiness

— The film plays with the notion of the cinematic scourge thatis the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Going off on a bit of a tangent: we saw the film in Manchester’s Printworks, which I have to say is one of the nastiest pieces of architecture I have ever had the displeasure to walk through. From the outside it looks fine – just another big converted city building. From the inside – where to begin? It’s dark, so very dark. Malevolently dark, even in the middle of the day. In a pathetic attempt to make you feel like you’re outside, they’ve painted a blue sky on the ceiling, except the ceiling is so high up and poorly lit that you can barely tell. It’s like walking onto the set of Dick Tracy whilst having your eyes raped by the evil shadow things from Ghost.

(500) days of summer is fun and enjoyable. but well, that’s it.

this film is like the character tom hansen (a not so good joseph gordon levitt) who tried so hard to label him and summer finn (the always beautiful zooey deschanel) as a couple.

in the case of the film, it tried too hard to label itself as the hipsters’ version of annie hall. from the unlinier storyline to the split screen, from the wardrobe to the heartbreak. very annie hall-esque.

i gotta admit though, the soundtrack is really pulling me in. it’s all there, from the smiths to regina spektor. and the pick for the songs is simply brilliant. the soundtrack is actually the one thing that made this film felt very hipsters. well, the ikea roaming scene is actually one, too.

bottomline, this is an offbeat romantic comedy that is fun and enjoyable, but it’s not as fresh and clever as everybody says. still worth a watch, though.

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t. That’s it.that’s the story.as simple as that.but in the hand of first time director Marc Webb,this simple premise is becoming an interesting, refreshing,and definitely,one of the best romantic comedy this decade.heck,forget it,its one of the best romantic comedy of all time.

By the time the first voiceover spoke by the narrator ,no, by the time the author’s note comes out,i know i’m into something entirely different.Webb gives an unique touch of storytelling,making the movie progress in a random and non-linear timeline (the film begins in the middle,day 290,and then jumps indefinitely, forward or backward.nice!),and adding something else,such as a musical moment,and a highly inventive and probably the funniest split screen scene i’ve ever seen in a movie.now,whatever he do next,i’m in.

By making Tom Hansen (perfect casting for Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a central role of the story,and making Summer only as a secondary character,makes this a true ultimate guy’s romantic comedy. so if there’s a lot of women who could not love this movie as much as i loves it,i understand,sincethis movie is not build for them. Its grand appeal is for male audiences (and for all the women out there asking,are male sing alongside the world when he falls in love,or always making an axpectation vs reality imagination,yes,we do that often)

wow,admiring this movie so much,and i’m not even talking about Zooey Deschanel up to this point. well,there’s no more to say about that woman,she is just smokinly adorable.that eyes,PERFECT !

(500) Days of Summer is a vastly inferior version of Annie Hall, borrowing the premise of a non-chronological “story about love but not a love story” but unfortunately failing to deliver.

To start off on a mild note, the non-chronological timeline was definitely much better done in Annie Hall, where days were not specified and motifs were well spread out and witty, as opposed to the motifs in (500) Days of Summer, which merely serve as transitions or brief jokes. But the film cannot be faulted for trying to break from conventional Hollywood material, and this is not my main gripe.

My main gripe is that the film is an ideological mess. It purports to be a rather subversive and unconventional take on love stories, but only succeeds in conforming to conservative and overly romantic notions of love. Here, we have a female character who rejects the dominant ideology of true love, soulmates etcetera. However, by the end of the film, she gives into the dominant ideology, claiming to have “woken up”. This is a sneaky implicit attack on the non-dominant and rather cynical reading of love, slamming it as immature. Perhaps one might argue that the scriptwriters balance this out by having the male character have a change of heart to. But the film’s form disagrees. What is presented to us is a series of romantic encounters from the male’s perspective, solidifying our beliefs in the dominant ideology (thus becoming a typical love story), yet as soon as he has a change of heart, we are no longer so focused on him; the camera no longer cares about what he does and the editors cannot be bothered to show this conversion. Rather, the film is focused on the female character’s marriage and her change of heart.

And to rub it in, the film even tacks on a ridiculous happy ending where the main character suddenly switches back to the dominant ideology again. Thus throughout the entire film, we witness characters basking in the dominant ideology of “true love”, of exaggerated romance, which is reaffirmed by the ending. This is blatantly no more than the conventional Hollywood method of promoting dominant ideologies without any real thought for subversion and this film is blatantly just a love story and not a story about love.

The prescription is to save your 90 minutes and watch Annie Hall, which is a much better and much funnier film.

Harsh, but true.

How people interpret the same movie/greeting card/relationship is also fascinating to me. (500) Days does that really well – in its form [viz. non-linear] and characterization [we only know what Tom thinks, ever, despite Summer’s being the most interesting character, kind of like in The Graduate how Mrs. Robinson is clearly Awesome over anyone else] – and manages to flow through all the events, occasionally multiple times & from ∆ed pov, real well: good pacing, that is.

It’s very picaresque (read: naive) for a movie to demonstrate such ugly sides to romance to then wrap it all in pretty packaging at the ending. Thing is: I got that Tom grew, but I wasn’t really sure how. (The narrator was in the film’s last moments painfully illusive.)

Good soundtrack, tho.

I’m Sid, I love the Smiths, my birthday is on the 21 of May just like the other mothers day, I am a perfect interpreter of situations and meanings just like Tom and I would surely choose to sing the Pixies on a drunk karaoke evening, the Label is my most hated friend, ok, just after his friend Mr. Wall, the pop-cultural lies got to me too, I’ve seen happiness, I’ve seen frustrations… I was, I am, I will be, I wish to be Tom…I was, I am, I will be and I surely want to be Summer… And you too. That’s why you will like this movie, everybody finds itself in it, it’s simple, cute, a small cliche, but lightly to digest. I <3 the soundtrack

A little spoiler alert is in place here, so read on only if you dare.

I really liked this film. The dialogue felt real, as did the characters. The script contains a lot of pretentious and impressive twists that all feel real. The film made me feel that the clichés and the little things that made the characters happy and sad are what mattered. That everyday feeling, together with the constant anachronistic jumping in time and the “supernatural” sequences (e.g. where Tom turns a walk to work into a musical daydream with drawn birds and a big band), the brilliant soundtrack (with Morrissey regalia to boot, imagine that) and a lot of desire turned this film into a great experience for me. Very cute, calm, American (I feel, as a non-American) and recommendable.

The first five minutes of director Mark Webb’s (500) Days of Summer, a concise and entertaining treatise on young love, are immediately transporting. There is a narrator, there are attractive (but not fake looking) leading characters, the music is zippy, and Webb introduces his leading players as if they were walking in a narrative music video. It’s a beautiful amalgamation that can’t help but prompt an ear-to-ear smile. (500) Days’ narrator has booming voice with commanding presence. The story gets even more interesting directly following this masterful introduction when he makes the audience a promise: “This is not a love story.”

So, in the spirit of the film, I’ll put an embargo on the word “love” from here on out. It’s just one of the ways this story is atypical – a boy-meets-girl story the likes of which we haven’t seen before and one that is completely necessary in order to publicly state the romantic inclinations of millions of postmodern 20-somethings.

Joseph Gordon Levitt (Mysterious Skin, The Lookout) stars as Tom, a puppy-dog faced twenty-something slogging the days away in a greeting card company cubicle. He’s almost falling asleep at a round-table meeting one morning when he sees her: Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the new girl – an improbably cute young woman with a timeless fashion sense straight out of Godard’s Masculin, féminin and bewitching blue eyes that flash with more mystery than sex appeal. The initial attraction is awkward, but both of them realize that there just might be something there.

Tom and Summer’s perspective on relationships differ vastly. He is a capital-R romantic and gets his definition of relational intimacy from listening to too much British pop music and completely misreading The Graduate when he was a pre-teen. Summer is, in short, a goddess. Since her teen years she’s been making men do double-takes on buses and busy streets. She’s been around the dating block and is at the point where she doesn’t believe in that precarious L-word at all. She’s honest about it with Tom, too, and this honesty is one of Tom’s favorite things about her even though it often hurts.

She and him hate words like boyfriend or girlfriend because, really, no one knows what they mean. They’ve realized that there are no clear definitions for any of these matters and that to define them would be juvenile. Despite this, it seems like they might be made for each other. They’re sleeping together regularly and having the fun times that only people who share a special bond can have. Summer has even begun telling Tom things that she’s never told anyone else. What else is Tom supposed to think?

It may all sound familiar, but the film has something most romantic comedies lack – structure. (500) Days of Summer refers to the 500 days that Tom and Summer developed their relationship and the movie skips back and forth from their relational ups and downs, each event informing another whether it be Day 58 or Day 398. The whole story is told strictly from Tom’s perspective and we see firsthand how his expectations for what a relationship should look like clash with the (sometimes) bleak reality of what ultimately comes to fruition.

Still, whether its Day 169 or Day 427, Tom and Summer never really know what they want out of being together. Is it companionship? Is it sex? Or is it simply someone to scream “PENIS” with in the park at the top of your lungs? Perhaps its all three. The reason why they’re constantly floundering in indecision is clear: their definition of what it means to be together has been skewed not by bad experiences with other companions but by sitcoms, pop songs, greeting cards, and romantic comedies. All Tom wants is a bit of emotional honesty and that’s something that can only rarely be found.

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are radiant as Tom and Summer, although its possible that Deschanel will never give a better performance than she did in David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls. Even so, the script lets the actress keep her undeniable quirkiness and even makes room for her to sing a song – a blessing for fans of She & Him who can’t get enough of her singing voice. Levitt and Deschanel make an attractive couple for sure, but it also helps that they look like real people.

Following the screening I attended, director Marc Webb described the style of the movie as “kitchen-sink.” There’s no better way to describe it. There are nods to Truffaut and Bergman, a musical sequence complete with an animated bluebird, characters sometimes break the fourth wall, and the poppy soundtrack seems to dictate the film’s movements and not vice versa.

I’m tempted to say that the script’s problems are rendered null by the end of the film. I found two character’s particularly annoying – the clichés of “smart little kid” and “crazy sidekick friend” are a bit overused – but the charm of the leads and the unexpected ending made me forget these. Beginning to end, the movie presses forward with an earned amount of whimsy and is void of the self-conscious Indie culture references that plagued Juno and riddle the screenplay of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

There’s a lot of hope at the end of this film – it will leave audiences with a smile – but the last five minutes offer a promise of happiness that seems different from the happiness strived for in the first 90. This unexpected twist is just one of the many things that make (500) Days of Summer an experience-laden ode to those disorienting times when happiness seems just within your grasp and the work that must be done to finally claim it as your own. Like When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall, I think (500) Days of Summer will be sticking around for a while.

I probably would have enjoyed this film more if it wasn’t for the way it ended. Maybe I’m just really cynical and jaded but I kind of liked the idea of him getting on with his life and achieving what he wanted to accomplish with his life despite the absence of a significant other. It did do a lot right in terms of achieving it’s purpose. It was light with a shadowy tint here and there to give the impression the themes were about to get serious but it never really went in the dark comedy direction. It remained a bubbly indie comedy throughout and the characters were likable and in spite of the peppering of obscure references it will be a film that will be accessable and enjoyable to many. The ironic humour was conveyed well so most of the jokes, especially the allusions to French cinema were quite amusing in their context. In closing, (500) Days of Summer is a well packaged indie feature which will no doubt gain strength in it’s appeal from the soundtrack.

The rom-com genre is flooded with crap that I normally try to avoid but every now and then one comes along that sweeps me off my feet. And this is one of those films. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great in anything he does and he is in top form here and Zooey Deschanel was also superb. The two work incredibly well together. Also we have good locations, a fun soundtrack and a screenplay that deserves to be nominated for “Best original Screenplay” by the Academy. The film is filled with great lines and sweet moments that I’m sure will stick with us. This is one of the best films to come out this year. Go out and experience Summer. You won’t regret it.

A frustrating, but ultimately very enjoyable movie. Frustrating in that many of the romantic-comedy clichés that are nicely mocked or are unfortunately balanced out by seemingly un-ironic actual clichés (mainly the completely unnecessary narrator and the horrendous wise kid sister character – both of which serve the same useless purpose). Yet the things that this movie does right are done so exceedingly well, that I ended up soundly enjoying the film.

The overall “complexity of love” theme is handled strongly, as highlighted by two of the best single scenes I’ve seen in a film this year (the split-screen scene and the look-back-with-a-new-perspective scene towards the end). While Deschanel plays her usual character, I’m still a major fan of her work. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is continuing his streak of very solid performances.

If only a few useless characters (both visible [kid sister, best friends] and not [narrator]) were removed or improved, I’d consider this a near-perfect romantic comedy.

The only good thing about this movie is the soundtrack, the rest is boooring, full of clichés, corny and way too hip.
The worst part of it all is that the whole plot revolves around this guy and this girl and how they “believe” or not in love, and around the idea that movies, music and hallmark cards, make you believe that love is full of clichés and it’s made of all this little stupid mini moments, when that is all you see in the movie; stupid, superficial little moments….whatever, nothing original.

I think what this movie had to say about the mysterious power of love rang true in many ways supported by the script and the players equally. For instance, the fact that two people who seem right for one another, who taught each other valuable lessons as a result of their partnership, may not in the end truly belong together is a cruel fact of life many of us have to face: sometimes the dream partner is not your life partner, despite the connection you may share. This film explored that irony in flawless detail.

The movie assumes that love is both devastating and uplifting in equal measure, and paints a portrait that tells that story, I felt, with great honesty and sincerity, qualities in rare supply in any medium. The characters’ movements and furtive glances speak whole volumes about their relationship to one another (like the intermittent close-ups of hands reaching for each other that act as a barometer of Tom and Summer’s relationship status) and the seemingly random, synaptic gunfire pattern of Marc’s jangled reminiscences. I found these characters not only likable, but very believable as modern archetypes of artistic minds forced to abandon their dreams and accept the co-option of their passions to pay bills. Their nurtured quirks and fanaticisms act as talismans of the authentic people they want to be, their creativity spilling out whenever and wherever it’s allowed to flow. I know many people stuck at the same crossroad of aspiration and survival today, and had no problem envisioning these characters walking around in the world we currently inhabit. I think the real reason that this film has invited such derision from the too-cool-for-school crowd may lie here in its proximity to their own life. The film reminds would-be hipsters of the adult realities they constantly avoid, by virtue of it’s catering to their market. Why else would someone who loves the Smiths be pissed that characters in a movie that ends on a sad but enlightened note, bond over listening to them? Decrying it as “cliche” is an equally spurious argument used against such devices by those who wish to distance themselves emotionally from the material. Everything has been done before, so it matters not if something in a film is “original” or not. It matters if the purpose fits naturally into the personal context of the story without the signposts of crude retrofitting. Just because it happens with regularity, and maybe to you as well, doesn’t make it cliche when it happens in a movie.

As for the homespun yet sophisticated style- impeccable and always drawn from the characters. I’ve found that most complaints with the visual style and costuming have more to do with a misunderstanding of, or resistance to, changing cultural and social trends than any valid critical thinking. Viewers who disliked these elements of the movie also seem to dislike the kinds of people the movie is about in real life. The stylish clothes, music, karaoke bars and lonely park benches, these details all help define realistic modern settings for the lives of Marc and Summer and their friends, yet the flair for retro-vibe also produces a timeless quality that speaks to the timelessness of the movie’s subject. You can tell that this story means something to the director, and that he understands what drives these characters to dress, speak and act the way they do.

I thought the leads did a tremendous job with the material. Zooey Deschanel was born to play this type of role, and manages to never make it seem as if she’s repeating herself. She always maintains that indefinable air; that sense of mystery that makes her a sort of warm-hearted Blue Angel- irresistibly entrancing, devastatingly out-of-reach, and not always aware of her effect on those attracted to her. I never doubted Joseph Gordon-Levitt for a moment- I fully understood why someone like Tom could so easily fall for a woman like Summer. He excels as a man who wants to solve the riddle of Summer’s persona in order to keep her forever- she the gregarious yin to complete his gregariously-challenged yang, unaware that such completion means a return to the emptiness from whence it came. There’s no wanton indication of feeling or motivation in either performance. And best of all- the directors, actors and writers all understand when silence and a small gesture (as opposed to a swell of music or extreme closeup) can speak the most to an audience of a film. It’s not afraid to be funny and serious at the same time, it’s not afraid to go too far sometimes; in essence it’s not afraid to be real.

I wish more movies like this would flood the multiplexes. I’m sick of crappy action sequels and new terrible kid movies every 4 months.

I don’t feel like I’m particularly cynical when it comes to movies, but I just don’t get the fascination that seems to be sweeping the critical community regarding this one. I love the bands that are supposed to be touchstones in this film; they’re such a seminal piece of my history, they are practically in my DNA. That said, this movie should be called, “My Mostly Out-of-Date Hipster Record Collection: The Movie”. Your musical tastes and DIY craftiness alone, a good movie do not make. I’ve read some reviews since I watched this and there is a recurring theme of how this film captures the essence of a certain type of universal young longing/love. Huh? I keep finding myself stupified by this sentiment. As far as all of the touchstones and indie flourishes, I should basically be this guy. Why am I not able to relate to a second of this? I’m not that old – I just did the young love part of life. I didn’t find a moment of truth or substance in the entire film. I hated it 15 minutes in and it didn’t dissipate. Cloying. Boring. Embarrassing.

There are times when the state of movies in general can affect your opinion of a specific film. Like (500) Days of Summer, for instance. There may not be a more formulaic genre than the mainstream romantic comedy; boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl encounter some sort of obstacle, boy and girl overcome said obstacle to live happily ever after, wash, rinse, repeat. There are chases to the airport, miscommunications and overheard conversations, and the most frustrating of all; passionate kisses in pouring rain.

The fact that (500) Days…eschews almost all of the conventions makes it as refreshing as a tonic, and serves to completely gloss over the relatively minor flaws it has. It also contains great performances by two actors who are maybe one film away from really hitting it big, namely Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

There are time when it slips too neatly into indie film quirkiness, with its hip soundtrack and pop culture references and occasionally annoying and often superfluous narration, but these are mostly endearing. The story is incredibly honest, being the type of romantic film that Woody Allen used to make in the 1980s; a film about why relationships don’t work, why it’s important that they sometimes fail, what we learn, and what we’ll never know about some people that we love but can’t quite capture. Credit has to be given to a smart script with as few cliches in it as any “romantic” film I’ve seen in the last five years, as well as some inspired direction from Marc Webb that may strike some as overly fussy, but that I thought was fun.

All in all, it’s a bold film in many ways, as it really is a story about love, and not a love story. A gem.

This film is damn perfect. I thought that 8 1/2 and The Squid and the Whale exemplified my life; boy, was I wrong. I have never seen a film to follow around a character, who is, in many senses, me. I was so surprised by this film, how it perfectly captures just how a man thinks when he is in love, that similarities between two people automatically make them compatible, that every little thing she does is a sign some way or another about something, that fate exists in relationships. How some people do not see this film as “anything outstanding,” or how some see it as “trite,” I’ll never know. This film is not Juno; in fact, it is miles above Juno, simply because of its absolute truth. The scene in which Levitt’s character Tom goes to see Summer, with the split-screen between reality and expectations, was one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen about love – ever. Do not misconstrude this film as a “chick-flick,” as it is anything but. It is a full-blown male film, one that captures exactly the thoughts of someone hopelessly in love with the independent type who only likes your conversation.

Savvy

Structurally innovative. The film flashes backwards then forwards, but generally moves forward chronologically to dissect a relationship between a sensy indie rock guy and Zooey Deschanel, who like Jack Black tends to play herself in most roles. Deschanel as always is aloof and deadpan, even when smiling. This mode is perfect for her slightly clinical character. When not trying to be an American Amélie, which it does in at least two scenes, (500) Days is original and quirky on its own terms. Joseph Gordon-Levitt hits the right notes as a shy dude who wears Joy Division t-shirts while preferring the Pixies and the Smiths. He blushes, fidgets, and when called upon is thoughtful. The notes for the indie theme are played well if a bit too forcefully. (500) Days is a sweet, slightly cheesy, film about the humor and pain of being in love as an early-twenty-something. The director took several stylistic risks, which aren’t overdone and pay off quite handsomely.