Reviewed: 500 Days of Summer

There are times when I realize how lucky I am to be doing what I love, and to be in a well-respected film school. One of the most recent was a visit to our school from former Sundance Film Festival Director, Geoffrey Gilmore. In the past few years he has been traveling to Tallahassee to present an advanced screening of a Sundance favorite at the Seven Days of Opening Nights festival, but a few days before this happens, he drops by the film school and allows us to watch it first with a Q&A after. As a first year, this was the first time I was invited to attend the event, and it absolutely blew me away that such an esteemed film professional thought of us as important enough to spend a day with.

After a lecture about the current state of filmmaking in the industry, the lights were finally dimmed and what had been known only as the "surprise screening" was presented. To my delight, it was Marc Webb's "500 Days of Summer."



Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is somewhat of the modern, young every-man: once ambitious, but now just old enough to realize that most people work in order to get by instead of working towards something they really feel passionate about. He is witty and sarcastic, and listens to great music, but this isn't where we are introduced to him. The beginning of the film is a heartbroken Tom who, in his struggle to understand women, has found himself dumped by the woman he believes to be his one true love. Summer (Zooey Deschanel). First of all, Zooey Deschanel is beautiful and cute at the same time. She has the features of an urban outfitter's catalog model and the acting talent that makes filmmakers forget they are watching a movie because we are so drawn to her eyes.

As the tagline goes: "This is not a love story, it is a story about love."

This could not be more true. 500 Days of Summer will become one of the defining films that transition romantic comedy into modern romantic comedy where audiences are less likely to focus on the story of their love, and more on the story of their lives. It is a piece that relies on its intelligence and quirks rather than sappy love songs and monologues. Normal romantic comedy plot structure is broken as we jump forward and backward in time, over a period of 500 days, as we relive the defining moments of a relationship already known to have gone wrong. Although somewhat complicated of an idea, it is never jarring to jump to and from because it keeps each one fresh and interesting, and challenges the audience to catch up to where the characters are, which I find to be one of the most important aspects of storytelling in our time since the average person has seen enough examples from every genre to form an arc in their mind before the second act.

The characters are each refreshing and honest, and the style that Director Marc Webb draws from his experience in music videos (this was his first feature) makes sequences, that could easily be covered in a standard way, stand out as ground-breaking.*

* I'm thinking mainly of a party scene portrayed entirely in split screen between how Tom has expected the night will go and how it is actually panning out. This could be easily distracting and overwhelming, but the execution and control of the audiences eye lines between which side of the screen is important to watch at any one time was flawless.

In conclusion, 500 Days of Summer has been at the top of my recommendation list since I had the pleasure to see it. It will have a wide release this summer (heyo!) on July 17th and allowing an indie gem like this one to sneak by onto early dvd would be a tragedy. Interestingly enough, it is being released the same day as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so here is my advice: If you love the harry potter, buy a ticket for 500 Days and do a double feature, these kind of films need to be encouraged because otherwise we will be stuck with surface level comedy and predictable romance that fails to inspire anyone.

8 out of 10