500 Days of Summer; A Summer Hit!

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:00:03 GMT

By Alicia Proto

500 Days of Summer Billboard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way since his childhood acting career in movies like “Switching Parents,” “Angels in the Outfield” and the TV sitcom “30 Rock from the Sun.” Now, all grown up, he Stars alongside Zooey Deschanel in the new romantic comedy “500 Days of Summer.” Levitt has been recently praised for his leading role in 2005's “Brick , ”considered the breakout role of his adult acting career. In “500 Days” he plays the role of a modern, hopeless romantic infatuated with a girl who coincidentally doesn't believe in a soul mate. The movie stresses the point that this is in fact not a love story, but a story about love. Thefilm is a slow yet wonderfully charming look at a young romance, starting unlabeled and growing into something strong and meaningful. The catch—or shall I say twist--that refuses to make anything easy is that Summer (Zooey Deschanel) doesn't believe in the love that Tom (Gordon-Levitt) has possessed for her. The opening scene kicks off with an old-fashioned '50s-themed narrator giving the audience a bio on the two people who are about to embark on the story about love, beginning with the classic line "boy meets girl, boy falls for girl." He continues on to discuss Tom's outlook on love, describing him as one who would "Never truly be happy until he met the one ." And with that the comedy of his misery and undying lust for Summer begins. Summer's effect on Tom lasts precisely 500 days, explaining the title. The movie jumps around in random order of different days he's spent with her, including days he was simply lovesick over her. But of cours ebefore we reach that final day, Tom gets the chance to understand how their romance was never the same in her eyes as it was to him. Right from the beginning Tom is dissecting their relationship together, taking him the whole movie to transition into himself without Summer There are the ups and downs like any relationship and we witness milestones such as the first meeting and the first kiss. But nothing trumps the first post-sex walk of joy where Tom proceeds to break out into dance—with the song “You Make My Dreams Come True” playing in the background. The clever, comedic lines make the movie an all around hit such as Summer’s “They called me anal girl in college… I was very neat and organized.” But it’s also the killer soundtrack that suits each scene perfectly in depicting the mood of that day. Although the message I walked away with was one I’ve heard before—to always have communication, because without it there is false hope and heartache—there is still enough realism to relate and carry a piece of the characters with you. Gordon-Levitt’s adorable wrinkled smiles and boyishly-handsome appeal reassure women that there are genuine guys out there looking for the same things they are. And although Summer is somewhat the villain in various aspects, we learn to not hold on to something we aren't sure of.

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500 Days of Summer; A Summer Hit!