(500) Days of Summer

Chalk this up for number two. 

Sorry, my sweet and loyal audience, my cohorts and I have been feeling a bit lazy when it comes to writing our reviews on movies. But fear not, we've continued watching them. So today, we have here a fan favorite. Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer is considered one of the best romance comedies of my generation for obvious reasons. It's about a man who falls for a woman that does not believe in love.. basically. When put like that, this movie does not seem like much of a movie.

And this picture doesn't seem like much of a picture..

The main character is Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, that is an average guy that does average things with his average life and seeks love. Enter Zooey Deschanel, who is Summer Finn. Summer is a Tom's dream girl. She is funny, interesting, smart, and steals his heart. Webb, then, steals our, the viewership's, heart. In the worst ways possible though, and I have to complain.

One picture that could summarize this entire movie

I giggled.

   Mister Marc must have bought a book on how to keep the audience entranced, and that's not bad, it's just he is not very good at hiding this Achilles's heel. In this movie, there is every single aspect of it being unique, such as a dance sequence or a split view between reality and expectation. Even a narrator! A fucking narrator! It's gets me heated just thinking about how much clutter there is in this movie. And worst of all, it is okay clutter, if such a paradigm can exist. To the untrained eye, such pinnacle scenes can draw you deeper into the false universe created through cinema. At sometimes, I gave in to the sheer cuteness of Deschanel and her chemistry with Gordon-Levitt, but the exaggeration present in this movie is overwhelming. 

Top: Depression

Bottom: Child not helping *see Top*

I don't want to reveal much in the plot but is it not obvious that something happens between Tom and Summer that causes depression? Good, we agree on something. Now, tension in or between characters drive the movie forward. But Tom throws "depression" into an ocean gorge and redefines the word. He is obviously suicidal and has more to lose than we have seen. Which as an audience member and fellow male, I hate this. As a movie critic, it hurts me to see something that I cannot relate to. But obviously, making this movie 500 days long is.. silly. So, I'll have to live with not fully understand Tom's conflict.

As a man, I was insulted. I've never seen a man like Tom. He was very expressive with his emotions, especially adding to the fact that Webb made it seem him seem even worse. You can ignore my personal vendetta though. Sorry for this small tangent.

      To say this is a bad movie is just wrong. (500) Days of Summer is successful in every way possible; it has a huge following, it did great in the box office, and leaves the audience eerily satisfied. It is cute, funny, and heart.. warming/colding, I guess. At the end of the film, I didn't regret watching it, but don't blame me for expecting more. I'd even put my reputation on line to say it is one of my favorite rom-coms. If you are contemplating watching this movie, just relax and breathe.  Don't be scared if you unknowingly love it.

Just look at Tom! He's so happy.. for now.

(500) Days of Summer is 95 minutes and rated PG-13 for sexual material and language.