Not up to snuff

Rating: 7/10 (1 September 2009)

Based on the current IMDb ratings, I was expecting a lot - something on par with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I was expecting something clever, artistic, thought-provoking, and - most of all - insightful. Not so, unfortunately. Reasons: 1. Dialogue - not witty, not clever (and I was expecting wit out the wazoo from this movie). The characters offered nothing profound about their emotional turmoil, their angst. The one diatribe that the main character has in the middle of the movie is the same clichéd piffle about unrequited love that we've heard a million times already ("*boo hoo* what does the word love mean? Why don't we say what we feel?"). Tom - the main character - is incapable of answering these questions, and his monologue is nothing more than whining. Zooey's character is quirky in her dress and style, but her intelligence or attitudes are not particularly quirky.... unless you call playing the penis game in the park quirky. 2. Emotional depth of characters - I think this relates to the shallow dialogue, but the characters - especially the guy - don't seem capable of thinking about, say, the cosmic significance of their emotions. They're content being slaves to their feelings, and, like automatons, perform the expected rituals, asking profound questions such as "what's going on between us? Like, what are we?" (referring to the boyfriend-girlfriend question). That's the most thought provoking question that Tom Hansen can come up with. Not unusual, not unique, not clever. Likewise with Summer's response.
I give the film credit for the way the anachronistic story-telling, which made it feel like a mystery movie. And it had a few clever moments, like the dance scene in the park.
I'm being hard on this movie because it's made its way into the IMDb Top 250. The other movies in the top 250 are life-altering movie-going experiences: they affect the way you think about the world. Each one a revolution in film-making and/or story-telling. Consistently. (500) Days of Summer fails in both of these.
Save your money. If you want a thought-provoking love story, go rent "Eternal Sunshine."