Staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, 500 Days of Summer moves to the bittersweet music of the Smith, Wolfmother and Regina Spektor. Despite being filled with emo references, it is an upbeat and charming film about unrequited love. It tells a story of 500 days from Tom Hansen's life that revolve around his wannabee girlfriend. Tom is a romantic greeting card writer and architectural school dropout, who meets and falls in love with a fetching by cynical new company secretary, Summer Finn.
Unlike most relationship films, it begins with a break-up that throws Tom into the pits of depression. The rest of the film revolves around Tom flashing back and forth over the 500 days of his life in a heartbroken quest to figure out what went wrong with Summer and how to win her back. While Tom is lost in a fantasy world, the spectator gets an unfair advantage of seeing what is really happening between Tom and Summer.
The trouble sets in from the very beginning, when Summer claims not to believe in love and announces that she does not want to have a serious relationship with Tom. Tom accepts, reversing the stereotypical gender roles.
Zooey Deschannel is cute and quirky in her portrayal of a self involved Summer. Her edginess gives a certain depth to Summer’s otherwise bland personality, but she is not the one who carries the film. Instead, it is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is irresistible as an overzealous lover. It is hard to watch him suffer without feeling sorry for him and falling just a little in love with his dreamy antics.
My favorite scene is one of him dancing through the park with an animated bluebird. Despite being silly, this moment authentically conveys a feeling of madly falling in love, when every pedestrian seems to congratulate you and give you a high five.
Other ambitious scenes involve a dreamlike black and white old film parody sequence. (I dare you to identify which old films director Mard Webb had in mind). Lastly, I enjoyed the contrast between two scenes in which Tom sings karaoke: a charming, confident and full of life singer vs. an epitome of a failed emo lover.
What I liked the most about this film was camera work. With soft lighting, cartoon effects and gentle swipes through the back streets of Los Angeles, it creates an intimate atmosphere that brings Tom and Summer closer to real life. The film unfolds slowly and remains refreshing without being overly dramatic or serious. Despite being somewhat predictable and goofy at the end,it paints an honest picture of what it's like to be on each side of an unrequited love affair, leaving the viewer free to feel, laugh and sympathize.
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