So – I’ve just come back from a preview screening of 500 Days of Summer. As per usual, several tracks from the film are already downloaded but this film more than most uses music as an integral part. I thought it was a good story – as the voiceover warns at the start (Leslie Nielsen by the way) ‘you should know up front, this is not a love story’ – but it is, sort of.
‘Boy meets Girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t’ pretty much sums it up. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star as Tom and Summer and the film focuses on Tom looking back at his failed relationship to find out where it all went wrong with Summer. I’ve always found Zooey a bit spacey/trippy – not really mainstream but with something appealing about her (last film I saw her in was the Yes Man, which she played yet another kooky one), but I haven’t seen Joseph for a while. Good to see him back.
Through a jumbled up order of days and advice from friends and a wise (beyond her very young years) sister we find out mainly the decline of their relationship over the said 500 days – where a once funny joke in the early days is met with tumbleweed and despair in the latter days. Also there’s an interesting split-screen scene which compares Tom’s expectations versus reality – leaving it up to the viewer to decide which path to take (although reality sadly wins out to quite a gutting surprise). Leslie Nielsen was most certainly right.
Anyhow, it was quite a funny film, you laugh – many will cry, but there’s a good/bittersweet ending, it’s well acted and I really liked the look of the film, which injects animation/’Tom’s sketching’ into it all set to a great soundtrack including The Smiths, Regina Spektor and Simon & Garfunkel. Look out for the IKEA scene (got to try that) plus also a feel-good Enchanted park scene rip-off set to Hall & Oates ‘You make my dreams come true’ 7/10
