(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer is the kind of invigorating, intoxicating movie experience that demonstrates how even oft-told stories can feel entirely fresh and new when approached by talented filmmakers who understand how movies work and who are unafraid to be both honest and creative.  The film is the feature directorial debut of Marc Webb, who previously directed many notable and acclaimed music videos and commercials.  However, while many directors who begin in those mediums move to making stylish but empty features, Webb cleverly utilizes his visual flair and stylistic playfulness to enhance a very sincere, moving story about real human beings and emotions. Working with a smart and witty script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and with two extremely talented rising young actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, Webb creates a final product that upends clichés and breathes life into a genre that greatly benefits from the revitalization.

That genre, of course, is the romantic comedy, but (500) Days of Summer immediately distinguishes itself by choosing to reverse the gender roles that we often see in this type of film. This is a story of romance from the male point of view, and it is the guy who is hopelessly in love in this case, and the girl who doesn’t want to commit. Tom (Gordon-Levitt), a greeting card writer in Los Angeles, quickly becomes smitten when he meets his boss’ new assistant, Summer (Deschanel), and the “500 Days” of the title chart the ups and downs of their ensuing relationship, which is by turns exhilarating, funny, surprising, and heartbreaking.

Although the content of the story might sound somewhat familiar, the film’s structure (in addition to its point of view) makes it feel remarkably innovative. The days of Tom and Summer’s relationship are not shown in order; instead, the movie constantly shifts back and forth in time to show the blissful moments of their early courtship juxtaposed with some of the more difficult, complicated moments later on.  In the hands of lesser filmmakers, this device could have felt like a gimmick, but here, not only does it make the film more imaginative and unique, but it also proves a highly effective way to communicate the central ideas and emotions of the story.  This is a movie about one of the most personal and intense feelings in the universe—romantic love—and it is not a feeling people experience in a rational, orderly, straightforward manner.  (500) Days of Summer celebrates the subjectivity of such an emotion, and its storytelling technique provides a clear and accessible way into Tom’s mind and his experience of his relationship with Summer. The structure highlights the role that memory plays in life and especially relationships, makes clear connections between past and present, and most importantly, aligns the audience with exactly how Tom is feeling at the various points of this turbulent romance.

Both leading actors do a phenomenal job making these characters into smart, compelling, three-dimensional people.  Deschanel has played similar roles before, but here she perfects her intelligent, hip persona and creates a character that embodies the girl of a guy’s dreams but also has individuality and complexity.  It is, however, Gordon-Levitt who has the harder job, as this is Tom’s story, and the actor must convey the extraordinary highs and devastating lows of his character throughout this relationship, while being the audience’s identification figure and emotional conduit into the story. He pulls it off brilliantly, registering every emotional nuance and shift that Tom goes through (and there are many), while making him a completely engaging, likable protagonist and also a very specific, real person. This is yet another triumph for an actor who has previously done stand-out work in films such as Brick (2005) and the underappreciated The Lookout (2007), and who should by all rights have a very successful and exciting career ahead of him.

Mr. Webb also seems to be embarking on an exciting career, as he has made one of the most promising feature debuts in recent memory.  His whimsical stylistic touches—which include a musical number and several uses of split screen, the best of which juxtaposes Tom’s expectations of a certain event with the reality of how it plays out—perfectly complement and enhance the emotions of the story and help define the film’s charming and inventive tone.  He additionally performs the rare feat of making Los Angeles seem beautiful and appealing, a place brimming with youthful energy and possibility—a type of portrayal that, in the movies at least, is usually reserved for more traditionally attractive cities like New York or San Francisco. But as with everything in (500) Days of Summer, Webb is taking something that might seem familiar and making it feel entirely fresh and novel, showing dimensions and points of view you might never before have seen or noticed.  Despite the pain it can sometimes cause, love, the film seems to suggest, is ultimately highly thrilling and extremely beautiful, which also makes a fitting description for this wonderful, truly special movie.

                                                 David Laub