“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know up front, this is not a love story.” –Opening Narration in (500) Days of Summer
There’s a rather famous quote that ends up on Hallmark cards and inspirational literature from time to time that says, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Well, if you’re Tom Hansen or can relate to his character in any way, you might agree… Mr. Anonymous can suck it.
Tom Hansen, the boy, works at a greeting card company and spurns out the type of sentimental rubbish that people always want to mean, but never do. The problem is, Tom means it. He’s the romantic, the lover, the one waiting for the One. Real love can never match his expectation of love, only he doesn’t know it yet.
Summer Finn, the girl, doesn’t understand love. She may even claim that she doesn’t know if it’s real. Her parents’ divorce, her failed attempts, and her easy come, easy go approach to life leave her to believe that Love, and its guiding cousin Fate, aren’t real. They’re fabricated. This doesn’t keep her from being sad, though. It just doesn’t keep her… anywhere. She’s the nomad avoiding commitment. And, of course, her good looks and laissez-faire attitude make her all the more appealing.
(500) Days of Summer is the bizzaro romantic comedy. It’s backwards in its characters, in its points, and even (delicately) in its chronology. It’s a cross-dressed He’s Just Not That Into You. It’s a poignant look at the love story that never was. And I loved it. Now, I’m the type of guy that would spend an hour writing a movie review, so obviously I’m the kind of guy that can relate to Tom (to my own chagrin). And I’ve spent my time with a Summer or two, only to experience the heart-wrenching that makes me think “to have never have loved at all doesn’t even seem half-bad”.
The story is told as merely just a story. It includes a bit of the fanciful, with a narrative opening, beautifully illustrated headings between each chapter, and characters that may seem a little too cliché. There’s even a really enjoyable song and dance in the street sequence, Ferris Bueller-style, to Hall and Oates “You Make My Dreams”, complete with animated blue bird. But the story façade disappears quickly when you realize, “Sh*t. This story is a little too real. “ You know people just like Tom and Summer. Tom is unhappy because he can’t seem to land the one, and Summer’s unhappy because she doesn’t think happiness exists. Tom immediately falls in love with Summer, and because he’s cute, interesting, and around she decides she’s up for it. It’s here where I want to say that Summer becomes the villain of the movie. She strings Tom along with her whims and looks and tastes of destiny (and even an “I’ll wash your back, you wash mine” in the shower). But then I remember (well, I was actually reminded strongly by the young lady accompanying me to the theatre… I know, a bad sign) that she never promised anything more than she delivered. She was always wary of the commitment that Tom wanted. Tom is ready to sign his 30-year mortgage. Summer is happy with her month-to-month lease. So, what gives?
Zooey Deschanel is the perfect Summer Finn. She’s the anti-Sandra Bullock. She’s beautiful, quirky, and elusive in all the ways that make you think she actually has the confidence she exudes. She’s so lovely that it makes it hard to hate her, though, in theory, you really want to. And as Tom is Joseph Gordon-Leavitt who is… well, he’s the dude from 3rd Rock from the Sun. He does a great job playing the hapless, over-analytical, under-realistic romantic who can’t piece it all together.
One of the great things about this movie were its intangibles. There was some really nice comic relief between Tom and two of his buddies. One of his buddies is about to marry his girlfriend since 7th grade, and the other one is hooking up across the city, encouraging Tom to do the same. The dichotomy of these two looks at love is really nice, and compared to Tom’s fantasy, makes him look all the more isolated, if not romantic. The story-telling is really strong, with the chapters not necessarily progressing in the order in which they occurred. It’s a play from the Lost playbook that works really well, maximizing the ups and downs that the protagonist feels with and without his One True Love. The photography is really nice, as well as a soundtrack that all the Scene Kids will want to blog about. (a’ la, Garden State, without the palpable self-loathing.)
Perhaps the most magnificent part of the movie comes in the climactic scene, (POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT, though I’ll try to be coy) where Tom sees Summer again after a good bit of time (presumably, a decent sized piece of the 500 days). The scene, well scenes actually, happen in split screen, with one side being the Expectation of what will happen and the other side being Reality of what happened. The two obviously don’t match, and it’s here where the real villain of this love story is painfully clear. Expectation. When you expect love so much that you think you deserve it and you can’t imagine yourself without it, reality is a bitter existence.
Listen, as a dude that likes football, BBQ, and cursing at his buddies, I’m not going to say to you, “Dude, you just gotta go see this movie.” I don’t want to be that guy. But I will tell you that my best friend who celebrates his masculinity in the same ways said to me over the phone with no one else around, “No kidding, dude, you really gotta see this movie.” So I did.
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