Summer Lovin’

For me, when it comes to watching films in general, Romantic-Comedies are films that I don’t necessarily watch. Admittedly, the reasons behind my distaste behind them is that generally, all of them are a copy of each other and the narrative of each one of them is pretty much predictable. We all know that at least 8/10 attempts we watch a new Rom-Com, we’re obviously going to get an ending that unfolds with the good-looking quirky gentleman getting the ‘princess’ love of her dreams which hall-mark back to old fairy-tales. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate all Rom-Coms. I do like When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall which both have their own original tools that make themselves combat against the more obviously predictable Romantic stories. For me at least, those Romances that have their own structure and style are Rom-Coms that I can enjoy since they don’t fall into a pit of obviousness and with 500 Days of Summer, thankfully it fits my criteria of being a Rom-Com that I can enjoy watching. With it’s narrative structure going back and forth in different time zones and the chemistry between Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel placed well in a Marc Webb film that ambitiously at times attempts to be something out of the ordinary, there’s no questioning that 500 Days of Summer goes on top of my list of Rom-Coms to watch.

Tom (Joseph-Gordon Levitt) is a wanna-be architect turned professional greetings card writer whose life is thrown for a loop when he suddenly falls for the ‘new girl’ Summer (Zooey Deschanel). As one who appeared most certainly unattainable at first glance, Tom manages to charm Summer into what she coins as a ‘casual relationship’. As the story progresses, Tom eventually starts questioning their romantic status with one another, which manages to put strain on the relationship, causing Summer to request to Tom that they only remain friends. Overall in a summary, 500 Days of Summer chronicles the bitter sweet beginnings, the untimely endings and the other confusing stuff that takes place during the middle of the relationship that just isn’t meant to be.

The film can be pretty much summed up in one of the first lines. ‘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-Comedy flick. When you compare it to your usual typical expectations of a Rom-Com, 500 Day’s of Summer is different most certainly, but it also adds more depth to the usual constructs that you see in a Romance. The most obvious difference but unique factor that 500 Day’s of Summer upholds is the way it presents and tells it’s story. Even though it’s certainly arguable that non-linear narratives do tend to be over-used and in some cases can be a device of great confusion to what’s going on in the story for the audience, I think Marc Webb’s implication of the non-linear narrative is not only different from it’s Romantic-Comedy predecessors, but it’s used to great effect in terms of the story and character development in this film. What the Non-Linear narrative does well in this film is rotate back and forth between the dates the two ‘lovers’ have signified by a simple title card flashing in-between the scenes such as (2) to (50) and (150) and so on to represent the various days in the course of Tom’s roller-coaster of a relationship. This see-saw method of bouncing between the various stages of Tom and Summer’s relationship does in fact manage to force the viewer in a physically engaging state; allowing the audience to connect with Tom’s experience of finding ‘the one’. What undoubtedly makes this film likeable is how relatable it is to its audience; those who understand either Tom or Summer’s respective points of view. It’s a film that engages with the man who is and isn’t in a relationship and realistically situates your own loving experiences with the character of Tom. When remembering on past events of a relationship, 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 was a little bit of both. While I think Webb depicts near to perfect of how a ‘relationship’ might go along, one thing that I admire what he did in this and what a lot of other Romances don’t really do, is produce scenes that are very ambitious, but at the same time are imaginative that work. The amount of expression that this film has when it tries to summarise Tom’s feelings is really creative. One good example of this could be the ‘French New-Wave Cinema scene’ which metaphorically explores Tom’s sad emotions. The one scene that I appreciated the most out of his ‘Imaginary segments’ however is the sequence of which we see Tom go to work in somewhat musical fashion as it explores Tom’s Joy of the night he had with Summer.

The real kudos goes towards Scott Neustadter and Webb whose script is put together rather well since it meshes the reality of being in a relationship and imagination together. You really can’t help be feel that their authenticity and attention to detail while constructing each scene through appropriately sarcastic and funny dialogue exchanges among all of the main characters involved, particularly those between Levitt and Deschanel which come across as heartbreakingly real and genuine. Their creative way of crafting the simple concept of a break up through unconventional story-telling is a refreshing concept that begs to be seen more in this present day where arguably, most conventional films tend to play it safe. 

The two leads of Deschanel and Levitt manage to bring something quite special to the screen in their portrayals of Tom and Summer. Their chemistry with each other is really what makes this film enjoyable to watch. Both actors seem so comfortable in their roles that their interactions with one another transcend the screen and naturally  unfold before our eyes as if we were voyeurs to their unravelling, wanting so much to change the fate of their outcome, but helpless to do so. I think what also helps is the actors similarities between one another in the sense that in real life they both like the music of ‘The Smith’s’ and at heart, both have a musical and imaginative mind since they did provide songs for this feature. Individually, if you want Zooey Deschanel, you got Zooey Deschanel. The character of Summer undoubtedly embodies who Deschanel is in reality; she’s got this old-fashioned yet hot look, she’s carefree and bound to be adored by the male demographic. As for Levitt, he definitely captures the struggle of the neurotic ‘boy in love’ exceptionally through all of his various stages of emotional imbalance. There’s nothing more to say other than he does once again, put up a great performance due to the fact that he’s an exceptional actor that can near enough do any role.

Considering that most Rom-Coms you’ll undoubtedly see are the same when it comes to the characters of the male and female and how the plot starts and ends, being predictable, 500 Day’s of Summer is a really refreshing entry within the Romance genre. For his directorial debut, Marc Webb certainly shines as he manages to balance imagination with a realistic yet clever way of telling a story of how a relationship moderately goes along. It’s certainly a film that is a poem to every down and out guy who thinks he’s the only one whose ever been dragged through the mill by their own Summer.

As always guys, if you have read the entirety of my review of 500 Day’s of Summer and have made it up to this point, a big high-five to all YOU and secondly, feel free to drop your opinions or thoughts down in the comments down below. Thank you for reading and I’ll be back next week. See you soon!! 🙂

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte