(500) Days of Summer Review

“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.“

(500) Days of Summer is the antithesis of the run of the mill, mediocre at best romantic comedy. The main character of the film Tom played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a guy, which is already the polar opposite of most romantic comedies. Zooey Deschanel’s Summer is the quirky & likable character she always plays. Of the two JGL’s performance stand out more, but the most notable thing in the movie is the on screen chemistry between the two.

The film’s editing and direction is very interesting as well. It’s almost as if the editing is a character itself. When the days of summer change in the film the backdrop that houses the number changes based on what season it is. The changing of the day is a really important part of the film because it is used to contrast the points in the relationship. In one scene, Tom is showing up to a party at Summer’s house, and the screen splits into two halves for almost the entire party with one side being captioned expectations and the other reality.

The music in the film is also stellar both for fitting the scenes they are in nigh perfectly and just as decent songs. Tom & Summer’s first conversation in the film is due to Tom playing The Smith’s There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. Music continues to play a big part in their relationship, due to the characters conversing and shopping for records. The movie also has some standout songs such as: Mumm-ra’s “She’s Got You High”, Regina Spektor’s “Us” and “Hero”, The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition”, and Black Lips’ “Bad Kids”.

The only major flaw I could find in the movie is that after they initially cut ties with each other they kept seeing each other based off of pure coincidence. Even though one of the film’s final lines is that everything is based off of coincidence.

I give (500) Days of Summer a 8/10 due to its originality, acting, editing, and soundtrack.