Review: (500) Days of Summer (DVD)

This was one of those movies that I had heard so much about and piqued my curiosity, but somehow got lost in the shuffle of 2009. Finally Netflix delivered the goods and I mean that in more way than one.

I had heard about the comparisons between this and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is one of my favorite movies ever, and the only thing they have in common is the way the stories are told out of order. But whereas Eternal Sunshine should have multiple viewings to fully understand which piece goes where and how they all fit together, (500) Days of Summer has it laid out for all in title cards that come up in between scenes saying which part of the relationship the scene takes place in.

Having an out of sequence plot certainly makes it Not-Your-By-The-Numbers-Romantic-Comedy. Between that and the fact they tell you right from the beginning that the movie is NOT a love story, makes this a romcom for everybody, not just the swoony ladies. And even though it's an indie movie, the film doesn't feel too "indie" like The Science of Sleep, a movie I couldn't even get all the through because it was so WAH? But this movie is smartly written, well acted, wonderfully directed, and walks a tight line between comedy and drama, hipster flick and classic love story.

Basic plot rundown: Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, obviously of 3rd Rock from the Sun fame) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel, who has too many O's in her first name) work at a greeting card company (a plot point I found very funny since I think greeting cards tend to be a bit ridiculous) and Tom's love for Summer lasts 500 days right from the moment they meet until he meets someone new. They breakup right at the beginning of the movie, but then go to the moment they meet at work. See? Out of order.

The most inventive pieces of filmmaking in the movie was the splitscreen for a good 5 minutes between Tom's expectations and reality when he attended a party thrown by Summer around day 440 or so. This was after they had broken up, and Tom had all these ideas of what will happen, as opposed to what did happen. I couldn't decide which one to watch - the happy scene where he sweeps her off her feet and they fall back in love, or the real life scene where Tom spends most of the evening alone and depressed. But how true is something like this to real life? I know I've had expectations and reality is something totally different. That's why I enjoyed the movie as much as I did, because despite all its gimmicks, which didn't even feel like gimmicks, it felt real. I know I've felt like Tom before, and I've felt like Summer before, and I related very much to the characters and the situations.

Plus, any movie that features any sort of musical number makes me giddy, especially a musical number set to Hall & Oates "You're Makin My Dreams Come True" featuring Tom and a bunch of random people wearing blue dancing through a park. It was very "That's How You Know" from Enchanted. But way more hipster-y.

Patrick Approval Rating: 10/10

(500) Days of Summer @ imdb