Review: (500) Days of Summer (2009)

[Steve Rhodes]

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ****

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER is so absolutely adorable that, as the ending credits 
were rolling, I had the overwhelming urge to wrap my arms around the movie 
and never let it go.  It was so precious and utterly enjoyable that I wish 
its fast 96 minutes had been 500.  I could never get enough of this 
delightful tale.  When the DVD comes out, I hope it's chock full of deleted 
scenes.  Although I usually never watch them on DVDs, I want to see every 
minute possible of this wonderful film.

It's hard to know where to begin in describing one of the best -- and quite 
possible the best -- film of the year.  From the very beginning you know the 
movie will be something special, as it opens with one of the funniest 
textual introductions I can remember.  After that, the frequent narrator 
carefully sets the stage for us, by explaining, "This is a story of boy 
meets girl, but you should know up front that it isn't a love story."

The film is perfectly cast, especially in the two leads.  Joseph 
Gordon-Levitt (THE LOOKOUT) plays Tom, a guy with a hangdog look and the 
unshakable belief in the existence of "the one," as in the one person in the 
world that he is destined to fall in love with and be with for the rest of 
his life.

One day, Tom, a greeting card writer, is so smitten that you can almost see 
Cupid's arrow shooting through his heart.  Summer (Zooey Deschanel), who 
left Michigan to escape boredom, has moved to L.A. to become the assistant 
to Tom's boss.  She is as commitment phobic as Tom is commitment obsessed. 
She makes it clear to Tom from their first romantic encounter that she 
intends never to be anyone's girlfriend and that their relationship will 
never be serious, even if it does become sexual.  Of course, Tom claims to 
agree with her demands, although he doesn't mean it for a minute.

As a comedy, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER is absolutely, side-splittingly hilarious, 
but that somehow manages to be eclipsed by something more special.  As a 
touching, captivating romance between two hopelessly different characters, 
this is where the film achieves true greatness.  Scott Neustadter and 
Michael H. Weber's script for our two lovebirds is superb.  (Okay, so it's 
technically one lovebird and one, well, likebird.)

Devised as a series of days in their lives, the film skips back and forth in 
time with cute little title cards giving us the number of the day, from one 
to five hundred, in Tom and Summer's relationship.  Especially well done is 
the way certain things work great for them early on, while the exact same 
things will have the opposite effect when their relationship wanes.

There is so much else in film to recommend it as well.   Matthew Gray Gubler 
(the long-haired nerdy doctor from "Criminal Minds") and Geoffrey Arend give 
excellent performances as Paul and McKenzie, Tom's two geeky best friends. 
As Rachel, Tom's wise-beyond-her-years sister, Chloe Moretz is a real scene 
stealer.

No matter how often Summer lectures Tom with thoughts such as, "There is no 
such thing as love.  It's a fantasy," the movie comes across as a sweet, 
albeit frequently bittersweet, ode to the need for love.  Deschanel is as 
cute as a bug, so, no matter how often her character claims to eschew a 
belief in the concept of love, it's hard not to fall for her.  Director Marc 
Webb displays a real aptitude for knowing exactly how to handle his actors. 
Deschanel, in particular, can sometimes be excessively quirky, but this time 
the director has Deschanel's quirkiness dial set to exact the right number.

I can't end this review without mentioning Eric Steelberg's dreamy 
cinematography.  Every scene, indoors and out, is shot with a wonderfully 
inviting, warmly golden glow.

This is a near perfect film.  Its only problem is that it eventually has to 
end.  I did not want it to stop.

As I said in beginning, this film is so absolutely adorable that I wanted to 
hug it and never let it go.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER runs 1:36.  It is rated PG-13 for "sexual material and 
language" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday July 24, 2009.  In 
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Cinemark 
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes at InternetReviews.com

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