(500) Days of Summer
Overview
Fans of HIGH FIDELITY and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND will be charmed by this quirky film that sheds a linear plot in favor of a memory-driven look at a failed romance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (BRICK) stars as Tom, a greeting-card writer who dreams of becoming an architect and finding his true love. Zooey Deschanel (THE HAPPENING) plays Summer, a vintage-looking beauty whose ideas about love are entirely modern. As Tom remembers his 500 days with Summer, his mind jumps from moment to moment, largely thinking of the good times in their trouble-filled relationship. Indie darlings Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt are perfectly cast in this sweet, funny film that infuses the typical romantic tropes with reality. Anyone else would have caused audiences to hate Summer, but Deschanel is adorable enough that she still endears herself to viewers. Arthouse favorite Gordon-Levitt hasn’t played a traditional romantic lead since 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU in 1999, but here he proves equally adept at portraying Tom’s sweetness and his neuroses. Music-video director Marc Webb makes his feature debut with (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, and it’s easy to see influences of his past work. The soundtrack boasts songs from Regina Spektor, Doves, Feist, Wolfmother, and, of course, The Smiths, the band that brings the couple together. Webb also adds an innovative style to the dramedy, combining a naturalistic look at love with a non-linear plot, animated vignettes, and a triumphant musical sequence. The film’s mixture of cynicism and romance makes it perfect viewing for happy couples, the recently dumped, and the hopeful singles in the audience.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Marc Webb - Director
Zooey Deschanel
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Geoffrey Arend
Details
- Format: Blu-ray (Pan & Scan)
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 024543273707
- Genre: COMEDIES
- Rating: PG-13 (MPAA)
- Release Date: May 2016
Movie Reviews
Reviews:
"[The] compelling premise is given the rueful temporal hopscotch of ANNIE HALL, adapted to two twentysomethings and new cultural references..." - 07/01/2009 Film Comment
3 stars out of 5 -- "Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber and director Marc Webb show a real insight into the contemporary audience by creating a movie that almost literally alternates between scenes of a relationship's glorious beginning and the details of it falling apart." - 07/14/2009 Box Office
4 stars out of 4 -- "[A] delightful comedy, alive with invention....There's a little black and white, a little musical number, a little Fellini, which is always helpful in evoking a man in the act of yearning." - 07/15/2009 Chicago Sun-Times
"Much like ANNIE HALL did for a previous generation, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER may be the movie that best captures a contemporary romantic sensibility." - 07/17/2009 USA Today
"[A]n original romantic comedy....It bristles with energy, emotional and intellectual, as it flits about the dizzying highs and weeping-karaoke lows of a passionate entanglement." - 07/17/2009 Los Angeles Times
"(500) DAYS OF SUMMER finds just the right scale and tone, neither trivializing nor melodramatically overstating the delicate feelings it explores." - 07/17/2009 New York Times
"As Gordon-Levitt matures and age begins to burrow into his boyish face, he's become a relaxed yet still cerebral performer....[Deschanel] intrigues by holding her cards close to the vest." - 07/17/2009 Movieline
"Marc Webb's bright bauble of a boy-meets-girl comedy is a rueful tribute to the wisdom of hindsight..." - 07/17/2009 Wall Street Journal
"In its brightest moments, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER delves honestly and insightfully into the mysteries of love and romantic chemistry, and how elusive a connection can be." - 07/16/2009 A.V. Club
"(500) DAYS is like a mood ring cued to the ups, downs, and confusions of modern love....[The film is] not just bitter or sweet but everything in between." -- Grade: A - 07/24/2009 Entertainment Weekly
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[T]he sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad (500) DAYS OF SUMMER hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen. It turns the genre on its empty head and sees relationships for what they are -- a bruising business." - 07/16/2009 Rolling Stone
4 stars out of 4 -- "The hopeless romantics are sure to fall head over heels with this one." - 07/16/2009 Premiere
4 stars out of 5 -- “DAYS offers astute, funny insight into the confusion rife in love and infatuation. Gordon-Levitt anchors the film with an emotionally candid turn...” - 10/01/2009 Total Film
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "The Best Films Of The Year" -- "[E]xciting to behold...Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel beautifully catch the mood-ring melancholia of two lovers..." - 12/25/2009 Entertainment Weekly
Ranked #9 in Rolling Stone's "The 10 Best Movies Of 2009" -- "[Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt] are star-crossed lovers to die for." - 12/24/2009 Rolling Stone
Ranked #6 in USA Today's "Top Ten Films Of 2009." - 12/31/2009 USA Today
4 stars out of 5 -- "A sharp spin on the usual rom-com formulae, this is funny, sensitive and challenges the genre's gender conventions." - 09/01/2009 Uncut
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