An overrated film with poor direction

Rating: 3/10 (27 January 2013)

This is a movie that I have very mixed opinions on. I enjoy the movie overall, and do appreciate what it tries to do; but at the same time I think the film desendends into extreme simplifications of what it attempts to "dissect" and "examine" - love. Joseph Gordon-Levitt really does shine in (500) Days, and Zooey Deschanel is pretty good as well, although I never found her character to be very likable. As much as I'd like to overlook the film's flaws and just fall for the charm of the characters and hilarity of the script, I can't. In fact, some things in (500) Days of Summer I actually find pretentious and others just get on my nerves. Marc Webb directed music videos before going into film, and this was his directorial debut. Unfortunately, it might show just a little too much. The screenplay is packed with silly moments and situations. Some work as great gags. Others, not so much. Gordon-Levitt prancing around the park to a musical number is one that particularly sticks out to me. The scene is intended to show that Gordon-Levitt's character Tom is in love. At first nothing may appear wrong about the scene, the viewer will chuckle, smile (be reminded of Spider-man 3) and continue watching. Later in the movie, when Summer leaves Tom, the film goes into detailing Tom's "depression period". Tom wakes up every morning, goes to the convenience store (still in his pajamas) buys Twinkies and liquor and returns to his mess of a house. After watching the movie, I thought about the two scenes I just described: "In Love" (dancing and singing), and "Depression - Not in Love" (sleeping, drinking, being lazy). Webb tries to show "love" though the most obvious and watery way; shoving it our faces rather than subtly showing feelings subtly through the characters expressions, or eyes. In other words, the direction is lazy. I also found the ending of (500) Days of Summer a bit of a cop-out. The film mostly indulges in being "artsy" and it certainly has a indie style, which I recognize is what it's going for, but sometimes I found this to be a bit pretentious, and it kind of took me out of the film. The movie is definitely worth watching, It's no masterpiece, but you'll enjoy yourself for sure. There's many, many flaws, but (500) Days is funny, it's sweet and it sort of comes together. If you want some actually good films that examine relationships, I'd recommend the Annie Hall (1977), High Fidelity (2000), Before Sunrise & Before Sunset (1995,2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), and 2 Days in Paris (2007).