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If only falling in love were as easy as sharing good taste in music.
"This is not a love story," the omniscient narrator quickly states at the start of "500 Days of Summer" in a warning to the audience that Tom and Summer, the romantic duo, do not end up together.
But this is also not a story about love -- or at least, not a very convincing one. The romantic plot line is trite in a "you-like-French-music-and-so-do-I" kind of way. While their smart retro wardrobes certainly complement one another, there is little to suggest that their relationship is anything more than passing infatuation.
Still, that lack of believable, profound romance is OK, because "500 Days of Summer" happily scoots along without it. Rather than a love story, the movie is more a post-graduation coming-of-age tale laced with enough humor, clever dialogue and unconventional art direction to leave audiences feeling satisfied.
- Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
- Rating: PG-13 for sexual material and language.
- Web site: www.foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer/
"500 Days," directed by Marc Webb, is the story of two Los Angeles twentysomethings trying to wade their way through the complications of falling in, and out of, love. Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a greeting card writer who cannot wait for destiny to bring him "The One." Zooey Deschanel, with her scene-stealing blue eyes, plays Summer -- who does not believe in love, boyfriends, commitment or any of the other labels she finds so confining.
While the two actors could easily have muddled through the movie with one-dimensional googly eyes and anxious lower lip-biting, they delivered nuanced and full-bodied performances that made them believable as real people, if not real lovers. This could be due to the fact that neither was playing a role completely new to them. Deschanel picked up where she left off as the jaded, but irresistible, space cadet from 2006's "Failure to Launch." Gordon-Levitt reprised his role from 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You" as the lovelorn geek who pursues the Way-Out-of-His-League girl.
The plot unfolds out of order, jumping from Day 480 to Day 11 back to Day 290. It's reminiscent of 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and writers Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter definitely made it work, revealing unexpected plot twists at exactly the right moments.
The direction and tone of the movie was as pleasing as Deschanel's flouncy blue dresses. Devices that are usually hokey -- split screens, montages, song-and-dance Bollywood numbers -- came off as fresh and dynamic. In one scene, Tom and Summer go on a sprightly romp through the home section of a department store, pouncing on display beds and pretending to eat dinner in a model kitchen. They're doing it to be funny, to be flirty, but it also reveals their secret yearnings for a taste of the comforts of settled life.
In the end, intentionally or inadvertently, the movie is a lot more about growing up and renegotiating post-adolescent notions of "how life is supposed to be." People put off their dreams in order to pay the bills, and compatible young people break up because of personal hang-ups and bad timing. Tom learns to accept humdrum daily life, but ultimately, it doesn't kill his idealism. He realizes that while life is far from perfect, there is room for great things -- great endeavors, great love -- to punctuate the commonplace.
"500 Days of Summer" is a lot more "500 Days of Tom" -- and that journey, though not romantic, is sweet and touching just the same.
