Madlodies♫

//Sunday, October 11, 2009 5:05 AM

The Beautiful Days of Summer

Movie Review: 500 days of summer

Everyone loves summer. It's a time for friends, family, and fun. Ballgames, barbecues, amusement parks, and movies, summer is just a time to sit back, relax and enjoy. Enjoy time off, good weather and whatever else it might bring. Am I missing something? Oh yes, love. Summer is a time for love.

The film can be pretty much summed up in one of the first lines of the film. "This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story." But is it? 500 Days of Summer is not your typical romantic film. There's something to it, something more than your usual romantic comedy. Maybe it's the style it's done? Maybe it's the realistic nature? Maybe it's the wonderful music? Maybe its the beautiful cinematography? Maybe, its Tom and Summer...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are the leads, Tom and Summer. These are real everyday people. One particular scene where Summer questions Tom about believing in love. Tom replies, "It's love, it's not Santa Claus." It is a real thing, a crazy thing called love. Tom falls in love with Summer from the start. She doesn't. Tom is like every other guy, and every guy knows of a girl like Summer. The girl they want, but can't have. They try, to no avail. It's frustrating, and Tom is frustrated. He's happy then sad. He doesn't know what to think. Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel have great chemistry together and give solid performances. You really believe their relationship and hardships. It makes you notice the little things in relationships. The film highlights two young stars on the rise. With some great performances lately for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his stock is rising...

500 days of summer directed by March Webb is interesting. Summer believes in destiny and soul mates. She has no qualms of getting sexually and romantically involved with Tom who adores and worships the ground that Summer treads on. Summer is very honest right from the beginning about their relationship. She does not want what Tom wants. She believes in destiny and living a married life with someone she was destined to be a soul mate. It is difficult for Tom to imagine and believe that a soul mate is different from a romantically involved passionate individual. But then when Summer leaves Tom he realizes she believes in what she says. When he meets her after a few days , he is surprised that she is married, pregnant and totally content. His whole life and love revolved around Summer. Love comes in different ways. Love from a soul mate is totally different. It is special. This movie is different and rather philosophical in some ways.

The story is not in direct order as it goes back and forth from different days Tom remembers his life and relationship with Summer. When remembering, we may not remember every detail in order. We choose what we want to remember. May that be the good, or the bad. For Tom, it's a little bit of both. Big props to the editing department. The film shows the good and the bad of love, lost, moving forward. There's something about it that sets it apart from the usual romantic comedy.

500 Days of Summer is really refreshing now a days. It's funny, unique, and true to life. It's got something for everybody to like. Director Marc Webb shines in his feature film debut. I'm interested to see where he goes from here.