(500) Days of Summer (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Sure To Stir Up Discussion Between the Sexes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Deschanel co-star in the new film (500) Days of Summer. It is a story about love but not a love story. See the movie and you will understand that description. Since it involves a romantic young man and a girl who says she doesnt want a serious relationship, their story is sure to create conversations between the sexes as to who is right and who is wrong.
The focus of the film is on a five hundred day period of Tom (Gordon-Levitt) and Summers (Deschanel) relationship. The film actually skips around in time more than The Time Travelers Wife. Why it couldnt just be a linear telling is something I dont understand.
Tom is enthralled with Summer from the first time they meet. They are co-workers at the same greeting card office. She is a new hire but he has been there a while. Actually he had studied to be an architect but those plans got waylaid. Summer urges him to pursue his dream.
Though they hit it off and are totally at ease with each other Summer keeps telling Tom that she doesnt want a serious relationship. Hope of course springs eternal in Tom and he keeps thinking he can change her mind.
The movie is sweetly romantic with most of the audience pulling for Tom all the way. There is one particularly inventive scene that occurs after Tom has spent the night with Summer. He exits his apartment building and bursts into dance with all the people on the street joining him. It is an unexpected number and a bright spot of the film.
Gordon-Levitt graduates to leading man status with this role. He is totally into the part and makes you feel Toms every exhilaration and every heartbreak. Deschanel is also good and she has the more difficult part. Tom is written to be liked while Summer is more controversial. Deschanel has the look and the breezy airiness that Summer has to possess.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and sexual situations.
With less flip-flopping in time and a little more depth to the exploration of the characters the movie could have been greater. As is, it entertains but leaves a somewhat sour taste in your mouth when it is over. And oh those discussions between men and women as to who was right and who was wrong.
I scored (500) Days of Summer a seasonal 6 out of 10.
