(500) Days of Summer(2009)

(500) Days of Summer(2009)
This is not a love story. This is a story about love.
Directed by: Marc Webb
Starring      :  Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
genre          : Romance, Drama, Comedy
Runtime      : 95 Minutes
WI's rating  : 8.4








One of 2009's best films, (500) Days of Summer proved there is a way to bring something fresh and new to one of the most cliche and often frustrating genres – the romantic comedy.Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose job writing greeting cards gets a lot more exciting when he meets his new coworker, Summer Finn(Zooey Deschanel). She's adorable, she's cool, she's funny and she likes the same music as Tom – obviously, she's perfect but she didn't want to get a serious relationship with people.

Summer: [Tom is listening to headphones in an elevator with Summer. She notices the music] I love the Smiths.
Tom: Sorry?
Summer: I said I love the Smiths.
Summer: [they stare at each other for a moment] You... You have good taste in music.
Tom: [repeating after her] You... like the Smiths?
Summer: [singing] To die by your side, such a heavenly way to die.
[speaking]
Summer: I love em.
Tom: [elevator stops, Summer leaves while Tom remains dumbfounded] Holy shit.

---

 Tom: What happens if you fall in love?
Summer: Well, you don't believe that, do you?
Tom: It's love. It's not Santa Claus.

Soon, Tom was sure that Summer was the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Although Summer did not believe in relationships or boyfriends – in her assertion, real life will always ultimately get in the way – Tom and Summer became more than just friends. Through the trials and tribulations of Tom and Summer's so-called relationship, Tom could always count on the advice of his two best friends, McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) and Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler). However, it is Tom's adolescent sister, Rachel (Chloe Moretz), who is his voice of reason.

Rachel Hansen: Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate.

Romantic comedies are almost all aimed at women, and thus are mostly told from a woman's point of view. That being the case, it's surprisingly refreshing to have one told from the point of view of a young male. And many male viewers will empathize with Tom and the way it's so easy to be absolutely sure you've met "The Girl of Your Dreams," even when there are obvious signs that things can and will go sour.

Tom: It's official. I'm in love with Summer.
[while Montage of Summer plays]
Tom: I love her smile. I love her hair. I love her knees. I love how she licks her lips before she talks. I love her heart-shaped birthmark on her neck. I love it when she sleeps.

The success of the film derives from its honesty. In a time where Hollywood is spewing out fantastical ideas of the modern romance with films like Twilight and Dear John, (500) Days of Summer is a breath of fresh air. The writers, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, put together scenes that are so authentic that it makes you wonder why they aren't put on screen more often. The relationship starts awkwardly, with Tom expressing a curious shyness and fear of destruction that accompanies those first conversations with a new love. The degradation of the relationship never feels forced or sudden; rather Summer drifts from Tom organically making Tom's ultimate heartbreak all the more realistic.

Tom: People don't realize this, but loneliness is underrated

Another key component is the film's healthy sense of humor. There are certainly genuine, heartfelt moments, but the film never wallows in misery or over sentimentality. Or perhaps it's more correct to say that when there are moments that are overly sentimentalized, it's purposeful and shown in a clever manner – we're seeing how Tom is building up moments in his mind in a way that doesn't really connect to reality, in the way people do when they're so deeply and desperately in love.