(500) Days Of Summer [2009] Dir: Marc Webb
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A lot of people really love this Marc Webb directed romantic comedy. It took me a fair amount of time to form my true opinion, I had to sit there and analyse quite a bit. The truth of the matter is that there was a lot to breakdown and assess, from both a film standpoint and a viewer standpoint.
For the purposes of reader discretion, I will say that this review is also, in part, an analysis of sorts, and so discusses broad features and themes of the film. No specific scenes or explicit details of said-scenes are mentioned. However, there is plenty of character analysis that may warrant a spoiler warning.
What the film boils down to is two really troubled characters, who feel extremely real and believable, thanks to some stellar screenwriting. One pursues, the other withdraws. The film is a story of two different perspectives of love, caused by two vastly different experiences and perceptions of it, and ultimately how they interact, tangle and untangle themselves.
I've read and heard a lot of people's views about which person was wrong, who was worse, etcetera, etcetera. I think these notions are all missing the point. The film is telling the audience very clearly that both people are flawed individuals who did not have the emotional capacities to provide for the other in a healthy manner.
I think both characters are selfish - not maliciously, but ignorantly. Neither of them properly addresses their fears, traumas and needs. Instead, one idealises love unrealistically and relentlessly, while the other withdraws from intimacy and avoids true vulnerability.
The film allows its audience to go through the emotional mania and depression of its protagonist, who, like many in real life, idealises stubbornly and consistently to the point of seeming delusional. Webb brilliantly showcases the pitfalls of this mentality, not only for the film's main character, but their love interest too.
One of the things that makes the story so effective is that so many people who have and will watch it will see themselves in one or the other of the two key characters - which is partially why I think so many were, and are, eager to pick sides. I think that is testament to how well written and performed the two characters are. They are real and relatable, and I think that troubles people - or at least, it causes them to emphasise, or to criticise, or even a little of both.
As referred to above, the performances of both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are magnificent. They were both able to illustrate and portrayal their character's personalities with such poignancy, and I think their very genuine chemistry allowed every emotion and piece of dialogue to hit that much more effectively.
I will also very quickly give mentions to some of the supporting cast, most notably a young Chloë Grace Moretz - who was excellent in her scenes with Gordon-Levitt, as well as the trio of Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler and Clark Gregg.
Overall, after taking in the film, assessing not just what I watched, but what I felt while watching it, I have to say that this is a very well-written, and well-filmed story. It's listed as a romantic comedy, but that doesn't really work. It's a drama with romantic and comedic elements - and a very good one at that.
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