The way love works

Rating: 9/10 (10 August 2009)

I won't summarize the movie as it has been done so ably many times in previous comments. I will say that the movie accurately depicts how "love" works. The fact is, you feel how you feel and you have no control over that. Summer was cynical about love, and set out to enjoy her time with Tom without an emotional investment. Tom, on the other hand was willing to put everything out there for this "relationship." Who was the more honest? Summer who made clear from the start she would remain detached emotionally? Or, Tom who was for the most part an open book when it came to what he wanted and what he was willing to risk for Summer? Both, in fact, were equal in their honesty. Both remained true to themselves. Although, you might argue that Summer was playing "games" in fact she was not. And, that is born out in the end when she finds someone who trips her trigger, so to speak. That is when she loses her cynicism and is capable of investing emotionally in a relationship. She just needed to meet the right person. That is how love works. Not to be forgotten, Tom, of course, is wounded by Summer's rejection. He laments the fact that she didn't tell him about her engagement, but the fact is he had been warned from the very beginning when he met Summer. A lot of pain can be avoided if we would just really listen to what we are being told and not just plow ahead because of what we think we want and need. As a result Tom becomes the bitter, hurt, and cynical one. And, that also is how love works. Love can put us on top of the highest peak or it can pull us down into the depths of hell. But, as with Summer, and as with Tom at the end, often when we feel we are incapable of loving, of committing, of sharing our time, and investing emotionally, we meet someone who makes us come alive and changes our perspective on love and life. That is also how loves works. Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of "500 Days of Summer," this truly was a love story.