500 Days of Summer Movie Review

Rating: 10/10 (11 August 2009)

I got to see this film for free, in an advance screening and the Denver premiere (because of my membership in the LTFC and DFC). It was a full theater, and I almost didn't make it in, because only the first 120 people got in. To top off a full theater, the air conditioning was broken, so my sunburned back worked up quite a sweat, but that's already more than you need to know.
The tag line says, "This is not a love story, this is a story about love", which couldn't be truer. For all of the lame romantic comedies (rom-coms) that believe they have something fresh to offer, I have yet to see one that does, until now. This is for a number of reasons, but most obviously, this is about the man, not the woman. And this is an ordinary guy, not some Hollywood hunk. They're also all very formulaic, and from the very opening scene of the film, in which we learn that our two leads are in a sticky situation, we know that this isn't the case. "Summer" offers everything with a fresh and very indie plate, but one that tastes good as well.
The story follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Leavitt) who is a greeting card writer, and a talented one at that. One day his boss gets a new assistant, Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who is sort of the typical indie girl (the only generic part of this film). We learn about their relationship in a mixed fashion, we scan through the titular 500 days in a jumbled order, started with 250- something and moving to 1, then going back to 260-something. For the first 30-odd days Tom is too nervous to talk to her, other than small talk in elevators and such, but his crush on her is ever-present to the audience. Finally they meet, and when they do it's movie magic, despite that we already know that something major goes wrong. Now that description does no justice to the brilliance of the story. I can't describe it without revealing much, but it's a carefully woven story pattern that is top-notch, and just as important, feels more realistic than any other rom-com I've ever seen. I could relate to Tom so much on his struggles with his woman, and that coming from a kid it extraordinary. I imagine it will click even better to the lonely 20-something men out there, who I'll join before I know it. Mind you, realistic is different than plausible, but that's a topic for a different post.
Did I mention that this film is hilarious? Not rom-com funny, laugh out loud hilarious. And that's another element that's missing from these romance flicks. Realistic problems and confrontations are much funnier than the silly slapstick ones in the long haul.
Marc Webb's direction feels like a good indie music video, and that makes sense seeing that's all he's done before this. He alludes to his background with a very funny dance number that puts most movie musicals to shame. The editing is also fantastic, and some of the best I've seen on this type of work (comparing it to Thelma and Bourne isn't fair). And the actors are fantastic, and let's pray for some Golden Globe nominations for Zooey and Joe. But of all the elements, the screenplay deserves the most praise. Creating a realistic, funny, romantic, enjoyable, feel-good, and out of order story is incredibly hard to do. I will remember this film on my roster in the Best Original Screenplay category, even if it gets out shined everywhere else.
Overall, it's a fantastic, funny, and memorable film, and it puts all other romantic comedies, indie romances, and feel good-flicks to shame. Don't let the mediocre trailer deceive you – this film is a 10/10