| (500) DAYS OF SUMMER [ and swoons... and sighs ] |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Sunday, 04 October 2009 22:14 |
 '(500) DAYS OF SUMMER' is a modern-day fairytale; without the unrealistic illusion of the perfect life, or the conventional (un-)happy ending. It touches on all those questions which we’ve all experienced... What happens when your soul-mate doesn’t believe in soul-mates? When expectation does not match reality? When everything seems perfect, but then comes crashing down? When the answer is painfully obvious, yet viciously cruel? We’ve all been in this position, and that is precisely what makes this movie so endearing. '(500) Days of Summer' is the story of Tom Hanson (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a trained architect turned greeting card writer, who grew up believing that he wouldn’t be truly happy until he found ‘the one’. Tom meets 'girl' Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel); a boldly independent and quirky woman who is sceptical of all things love, preferring to live in the safety of non-commitment while she is young... “save[ing] the serious stuff for later". Sounds like a match made in heaven, right?  Starting somewhere around day 480 and jumping between the highs and lows of Tom and Summer’s story, it would have been all too easy for first-time director Marc Webb to lose the consistency of the storyline in the search for an original structure. It’s no easy feat to tell the story of a blossoming romance, when the viewer is made aware of its ending at the start of the film. No easy feat, but when it's done well – which is true in this case – the result is a refreshingly original telling of a story we are otherwise all too familiar with. Tom’s 500 days of Summer begins in a typical fashion – an instant attraction to a stunningly beautiful yet mysterious girl, which is sparked further when a brief interaction in an elevator reveals a common interest in music (in this case, The Smiths). It's love at first sight, with the only thing standing in the way of Tom’s perceived eternal happiness courtesy of the girl of his dreams, is the cynical approach Summer has to love. While she indulges Tom and their romance appears to blossom, she is always upfront in the fact that she doesn’t view their relationship as anything more than temporary.  Without delving too far into the details of the plot, a big part of what makes this film so great is its universal appeal. Whether it be Tom - the hopeless romantic and victim of unrequited love, or Summer - the independent love cynic, or one of the quirky supporting characters (notably the friend who has been in the same relationship since he was old enough to know what a relationship was, the friend who never seems to be, or want to be in a relationship, or the scarily aware and sex-savvy younger sister); you will find some-one in this film who is just like you, or someone you know. '(500) Days Of Summer' will make you laugh, make you sigh, make you cry... if you’re that way inclined. It will re-affirm your faith in love, then smash that faith to pieces before building it up again; all set to a perfectly constructed soundtrack. As the narrator states at the beginning; “This is the story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront – this is not a love story.”  |
