500 Days of Summer
Directed by Marc Webb
Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
(500) Days of Summer was probably the film I felt most conflicted about, before actually seeing it. I am, I shall admit, a firm follower of the Church of Zooey, and bow to her earthy charms and big blue eyes. I have even sat through the horrific Matthew McConaughey/Sarah Jessica Parker rom-com Failure to Launch, just to bask in Zooey’s glow. The prospect of seeing a film that seems entirely designed as a love letter to her is not really hard to sell to me. Nor is one starring as truly great and exciting an actor as Joseph Gordon-Levitt. However, the faux-indie machinations of the press materials for the film, prior to release left me nauseous. Characters who yak on about their love for The Smiths, musical sequences with animated animals, parenthesis in the title, precocious kids who are smarter than the adults around them, all seem to spell overly twee, sickeningly sweet, Death Cab soundtracked watered down Sofia Coppola. (500) Days of Summer is guilty of all these things, but director Marc Webb, whose only previous experience consists of tour videos for Green Day, 3 Doors Down and Jesse McCartney, manages to somehow make it work. Summer is entirely aware of the cinematic shortcuts it takes, and entirely apologetic in its use of them, and also willing to undercut all of these by providing the one thing all the other throngs of films that do the same don’t, provide truly multi-dimensional characters in realistic situations with plausible outcomes and honest, if not always happy, situations. (500) Days of Summer is the antithesis to the Romantic Comedy genre, in that is it is actually romantic and actually funny. It is also genuinely invested in its romantic coupling rather than being a backdrop for Kate Hudson to perform pratfalls. This film is a true gem, with a startlingly good central performance from Gordon-Levitt, who is fast beating Ryan Gosling for the title of best actor of his generation. Constructed with absolute love and care, this is a film to fall in love with. Even a truly hideous last line, can’t ruin Summer’s spell.
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