A Love Story, Finally, About… Well, Love
A great date night this summer is to check out the newest indie hit ‘500 Days of Summer’. This quirky and smart comedy, which states at the beginning that it’s not a love story, may actually be the truest love story I’ve seen in awhile. Tom, played by Joseph Gordon- Levitt, is a greeting card writer who is immediately enthralled with the new office secretary, Summer, played by one of my favorite actresses, Zooey Deschanel. The film, which cuts and pastes memories and pieces of their relationship together (in no particular order, mind you), spans a full 500 days – from the glorious beginning to
the ultimate demise. Now it starts off with the break-up, so in truth, it isn’t a love story, it’s a love reflection. What makes this film so special, however, is its clever weaving of feeling and emotion; the pinnacle of happiness and the lowest lows, all with acting so flawless you become utterly captivated. This milestone – a.k.a., the break-up – in Tom’s life, leads him to transform things in his own existence in a way he couldn’t have imagined before, leading to a new perspective and ultimate hope. It makes you feel like you have seen this somewhere before – maybe in our own whimsical and sometimes bleak love lives, perhaps. Relationships start off being this magical thing, and love is what fills your days from morning to night, but unless each person is on the same page, the truth behind love can get a bit foggy. The film captures this reality so well – you actually sympathize with the dumpee and the dumper, which usually isn’t the case in these types of tales.
This is definitely a great film to see at a lazy Sunday matinee. It makes you laugh and feel, which as far as movies go, is pretty rare in my case. It seems like every summer movie, in particular, is as far away from the intrinsic truths of our daily lives as possible, where the order of the day is visiting an alien planet or seeing machines blow up verses showing us our own lives and loves reflected back. In the midst of all the action, this one stands out as a light and capricious work of art.
Peace and love Xo
August 12th, 2009 saat: 11:18 am
I hate to be the hater hear but the movie was just not that good. It is long and sappy, and very predictable, the jumping timeline is cool in the begining and then get annoying. For all the hype (reviews) I was let down. If I had seen it without hearing the reviews I would have liked it more.