(500) Days of Summer

I finally managed to watch (500) Days of Summer last night. I completely loved it from the first moment of the film, before we'd even faded in on anything! I think I can safely say that no other film has ever made me laugh before a single image had appeared onscreen, but the opening disclaimer managed that feat:

"The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch."

Now, I pretty much think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the most talented younger actors working today. Just watch Brick, Mysterious Skin or my own favorite, The Lookout, for all the evidence you'd need to prove that. I also think he's incredibly sexy. So, you may think that I'm a bit biased in my views and would love anything with him in it.

To that I'd reply: G.I. Joe. Ugh! I sat through that godawful movie for one reason, and one reason alone: JGL was in the cast. I'm not an action movie person in general, it's true, but give me a good action film, like the Bourne series or the second Terminator film, and I'll love it. G.I. Joe was painfully bad and if I could wipe the memory of those two hours from my mind I would.

In short, I will see bad movies because a particularly hot or talented (or both, in this case) actor is in them, but that doesn't mean I'll like them.

(500) Days of Summer was just really fantastic. I loved the retro look to it, which was just right without being so overdone that you felt like you weren't watching a film set in the present. I loved the character of Tom, the romantic who believes he's found The One and whose whole belief in love is dashed against the rocks of a woman who just doesn't love him back.

I liked the non-linear storytelling and the supporting cast, and I really loved that the movie avoided romantic comedy cliches while taking on the whole idea of the cheap, greeting card/Hollywood sentimentality that is so attached to the very idea of love today.

I especially liked that the movie didn't offer to tie things up neatly at the end. When the lead character, Tom, left his job and started pursuing his dream of being an architect, other movies would have had him find success to show that You Should Follow Your Dreams, the sort of easy sentiment that Tom has rebelled against. Tom is following his dreams, yes, but the movie makes it clear that doing so comes with no guarantees or easy success stories.

It's a great film about the realities of being in love, from the euphoric highs (I especially liked the scene after Tom and Summer have slept together for the first time, when Tom walks to work in such high spirits that a dance sequence ensues) to the lowest of lows, which usually aren't passionate fights but rather when you're faced with silent indifference from the person you love.

I just really loved this movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel were both fantastic, it was funny and painfully real, and the whole look of it, the very atmosphere, made it a film that I know I'm going to watch again and again.