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as a melty Creamsicle on a hot summer day, the new comedy (500) Days of
Summer is a sweet surprise in the middle of blockbuster season. A
welcome respite in a field so recently dominated by borderline frathouse
laughs; (500) Days of Summer is a return to the canny wit and urbane
hipness sorely missed in the works of Cameron Crowe, director of 1992’s
Singles. A standout performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the boy in
this story of boy meets girl, boy gets girl… kinda, boy loses girl and
frantically tries to get her back, is as starmaking and memorable as
John Cusack in Crowe’s 1989 opus, Say Anything.
The
(500) Days of the title refers to the length of the relationship between
Tom and Summer, a blithe spirit that breezes into his sedate life. As
new coworkers at a greeting card company, Tom does the hesitant office
romance dance, but only until Summer seizes Tom in a passionate liplock
in the copy room.
Sharp
and elegant without ever becoming twee or precious, (500) Days of Summer
is a rare and insightful portrait of modern love. The role reversal
between Summer and Tom is beautifully measured and explained in an early
flashback to their last day as a couple wherein Summer enlightens a
surprised Tom that in their increasingly Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen
relationship, she’s the Sid. Summer is a girl with the world ahead of
her and no need to be tied down. This is in complete opposite to Tom,
who, as their blissful relationship blooms and he’s never been happier,
craves the security of knowing that it, and Summer are never going away.
Director Marc Webb doesn’t simply employ a fresh, brilliant script; he
freely tosses in wonderful animation sequences, side-eyed disclaimers, a
voice-over narration and the odd musical production number. More
perhaps than even in Crowe’s comedies, the soundtrack of (500) Days of
Summer is as vital as any of the supporting characters: Tom’s adult
viewpoint is formed by the 1980’s British mope rock he worshipped as a
teen. What finally convinces Tom to pursue Summer is her office
elevator sing-along to The Smiths’ "There is a Light That Never Goes
Out" leaking out from Tom’s Ipod headphones. Tom’s impromptu victory
dance through the city streets after spending the night with the fair
Summer is a loopy delight as passersby join him for some spontaneous
choreography to the tune of Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come
True.”
Of all
(500) Days of Summer’s estimable charms, the greatest of these is its
excellent casting. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s career has been puttering
along nicely as he’s made the transition from child television star on
the sitcom Third Rock from the Sun to legitimate feature film star.
He’s quietly gained both chops and acting cred in smaller films like
2004’s Mysterious Skin, 2005’s Brick and 2008’s Stop-Loss {Reviewed
here}(- and 1998’s Halloween H2O!). He’s paid his dues and it’s
great to see him shine as brightly as he does here as a romantic lead.
Gordon-Levitt masterfully brings Tom to life as a dreamy everyman with
the heartfelt appeal of Say Anything’s Lloyd Dobler. The character is
so endearing in both the exultant joy of the first blush of love, or the
crushing dejection of realising that no matter how well a relationship
seems to be going, there’s always one who loves a little more and
sometimes that disparity simply can’t be breached. Tom is the boy every
girl wishes lived next door, so it’s hard to imagine what female in her
right mind wouldn’t adore him? This is where the other perfect casting
comes in; Zooey Deschanel’s quirky, ethereal allure is used here to its
best effect. Dressed immaculately like a porcelain doll stuck in a
1950’s/1960’s time warp, Deschanel’s natural wispiness is a fine canvas
for Tom to paint his aspirations on, and only after the reality of how
free Summer’s spirit intends to be crashes in, do things take a hard
turn south. Deschanel’s agile performance makes it impossible to hate
Tom’s enigmatic muse/dream girl/amour fou. Summer simply is what she is
and never pretends to be other, even for Tom’s sake. One of the gifts
of the screenplay is that we see the idealised version of the
relationship mostly through the heartbroken Tom’s eyes and later a
slightly different, more realistic account afforded by Tom’s
wise-way-beyond–her-years tweenaged sister (- played by the
brilliantly deadpan Chloë Grace Moritz), who saw the imbalance
between the two from the start. Dramatically hitting bottom after
Summer’s departure, Tom is able to salvage one good thing from their
time together; heeding the words of career advice she gave back before
they became a couple. Having to rebuild from the inside out, Tom learns
how to move on again.
Lovely
stuff. I haven’t watched a movie with this much unadulterated charm in
ages. Touched with just the right amounts of wit, whimsy and smarts,
(500) Days of Summer is a pure delight and one of the most engaging
romantic comedies in years.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
July
16th, 2009
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