(500) Days Of Summer

One of my favourite genres is the romantic comedy. Because I am writing one myself I try to go and see as many as I can in order to study the conventions of the genre and hopefully make mine a better film. I especially like romantic comedies that are a little different and don’t follow the usual routines and clichés. This is one of them.
This film resonated particularly strongly with me because I’ve gone through a similar situation. I fell in love with a guy but he did not feel the same way about me and only wanted to be friends. He sent me signals that indicated he wanted more but I misinterpreted them as being more than what they were. So I know how Tom feels in this film. You want to do all you can to be with this person and know it can’t be anymore but hope that it can. I enjoyed how the film played around with the chronology of the story. That’s the other aspect that makes this an unconventional movie. I admire how the writers jump around with the story but still make it coherent and understandable. The other highlight of the film for me is the musical number. I like it when they are put in romantic comedies but it feels natural. P.J. Hogan did it brilliantly in ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’. It is done as wonderfully here. I only had one problem with this film and that was the narration. I only had one small problem with the film. One thing you learn in script writing class is that narration is a lazy form of writing. Some films do it well but other can’t. I just felt that here there was a little too much of it in this film.
Ever since he first appeared in the TV series ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’ I’ve been following the career of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I think he is a brilliant actor and I’ve loved him in everything he’s done. This film is no exception. He is excellent at conveying both the extreme joy and the heartbreak of being in love. Zooey Deschanel is another person I’ve admired for a while. She is able to make Summer loveable but not make you want to hate her.
I can no recommend this film enough. A real breathe of fresh air in the romantic comedy genre. This is for those who like their things a little different.