500 Days Of Summer
Review
by Anthony Morris
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500 Days Of Summer
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There is a big difference between describing an event and actually having something to say about that event.
500 Days of Summer
makes the mistake of thinking that a fancy structure - in this case,
various days in a 500 day relationship are sometimes shown out of order
so that we get a grumbly day 350 after a perky day 50 - adds depth to a
fairly lightweight story.
But like all relationships, it
starts out strong as a greeting card writer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
meets and falls for office assistant Summer (Zooey Deschanel), who
kinda doesn't fall for him but goes along with it for a while.
There
is a light touch to events (a dance number is a highlight) and the
occasional shifts in time serve to highlight the roller-coaster nature
of a relationship's early days and how jokes can go stale over
time.
But as the film progresses it doesn't get any deeper.
We
can see that Summer isn't into him as much as he is into her and when
things go sour he's put through hell, but there's really nothing more
to this film than that.
It's too even-handed to really get into the pain of being dumped.
We're
shown that it's as much his fault as hers, and the single line where
any kind of hurt is addressed ("you pretty much just do what you want")
feels like the only true thing this film has to say.
It's
nice for the characters that they're all so adult about things, but
when a lightweight relationship segues into a lightweight breakup it
makes for a fairly, well, lightweight viewing experience no matter how
charming it seems.
3
out
of 5
500 Days Of Summer
Australian release: 17th
September,
2009
Official
Site: 500 Days Of Summer
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Chloe Moretz
Director: Marc Webb
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