Humor and wit are apparent right from the opening titles of 500 Days of Summer, where the claim is made that the movie is in no way based on real people or events, and then proceeds to name people and events the movie is not based on. This ironic tone sets the mood for the entire movie. The first scene opens on day 500, with the narrator, presumably the main character later in life, telling us that what follows "is not a love story," though the scene of the main characters sitting on a park bench holding hands suggests otherwise.
The Plot of 500 Days of Summer
The movie traces the relationship between Tom Hansen and Summer Finn, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, who meet when Summer is hired to be a secretary at the greeting card company that Tom works at as a writer. The movie is told almost entirely from Tom's perspective, and each scene is a day in Tom's life, from the 500th day that opens the movie, to day 1 when he first meets Summer, and jumping around between other points in their relationship. The two characters are polar opposites, a nod perhaps to romantic comedy conventions, with Tom a hopeless romantic, and Summer emotionally detached, creating the expectation that perhaps the two characters will work out their relationship after all even though the audience is told by the narrator in the first scene "This is not a love story."
The Cast of 500 Days of Summer
Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are perfect in the roles of the not quite meant to be couple. There was no better choice than Deschanel to play the role of the quirky Summer that every guy in the office wants but no one can have. Gordon-Levitt, while best known for being the kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun, is a versatile actor, and his portrayal of the hopelessly romantic Tom is one that every guy who grew up listening to too much 80s and 90s pop rock will relate to. The supporting cast is also strong, with Geoffrey Arend as Tom's coworker friend, Matthew Gray Gubler his best friend, and Chloe Moretz as his young teen sister and the guru he goes to for advice on all things concerning love and relationships.
Writing and Directing in 500 Days of Summer
Director Marc Webb is best known for the music videos he has previously directed, and some of the arty style he brings to that medium is apparent in this feature, but what really makes 500 Days of Summer stand out is the writing. Every scene crackles with good dialogue, and the ups and downs of Tom and Summer's relationship feel real in a way that anyone who has been in a tumultuous relationship can relate to. The writers also played around with genre conventions, and audience expectations in an interesting way. The initial premise of the movie, opposite characters being attracted to one another and entering a relationship is a fairly standard genre convention in romantic comedies, but the movie does not deliver the standard romantic comedy fare beyond this, as the relationship is seen to destruct early on in the movie, and then the story flip-flops back and forth between Tom going through the process picking himself back up, and recalling his relationship, the 500 days he spent with Summer.
500 Days of Summer is a Watermark/Fox Searchlight Pictures release, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, Rated PG-13 for sexual material and language.
