Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
Anytime you buy an album you can almost guarantee you’re not going to love every track on it – regardless of how big a fan you are of the  band/musician/comic releasing it. In fact, you’ll probably end up loving one or two numbers on it, inattentively listen to the rest, or simply just skip a bunch of songs to get back to that one (or two) you enjoy. Whatever the case, it’s rare you’ll find a compilation that wholly satisfies. If “(500) Days of Summer” were a CD, you’d love every one of its beats – the slow tune, the fast tune, the sad tune, the cheerful tune, the acoustic bonus track… the rousing instrumental! It’s a perfect package that, thankfully, isn’t just music to the ears…. But something joyously entertaining for the eyes (and the heart).
To compare Marc Webb’s debut film to another is doing it an injustice – because it’s so, so original. It’s structured unlike any comedy you’ve seen before, and it’s written so much more affluent, deeper and artistically than most of its peers are. Also, it’s got a punch line you don’t usually hear from this type of funny. (But if I were to compare it to another comedy, I might say it’s of the “Juno” or “There’s Something About Mary” – or a combination of the two – blend of comedy).
A realistic, but still very funny take on the modern-day relationship, “(500) Days is essentially the story of a boy who falls in love with a girl, but the girl doesn’t fall back. He’s, of course, a big believer in love; she’s never experienced it, so likes to keep her relationships ‘casual’. It’s a relationship doomed from the beginning – but like the duo that live it, the audience will never regret it.
Flashing forward, flashing back, flashing forward, then flashing back again, the film retraces the origins, the peak, and the fall of greeting-card designer Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt, “Brick”) and office assistant Summer’s (Zooey Deschanel, “The Happening”) brief romance. We’re warned at the start of the film by it’s narrator that “This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story”, so we know on that 500th day that Tom and Summer are unlikely to still be holding hands, playing ‘house’ in the IKEA (as they enjoyed to do in the early, more hopeful days of their relationship).
Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer” is like a celebrated jazz-ballet dancer  – it doesn’t put a foot wrong; nor make a wrong move, and even when others might have lost their step, or energy, it just keeps on moving – as vibrant as ever. There’s been so much thought and imagination been poured into the screenplay (not to mention, I’m guessing, real-life experience – in fact the movie opens with the author’s note : “The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch”) that it bursts out of the screen like a breath of sweet-smelling, smiling-provoking fresh air. It’s, quite simply, a flawless masterpiece. I personally don’t think I’ve enjoyed a movie as much as I enjoyed this since… well…
Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel (easy to fall in love with this girl – look at those adorable big blue eyes!) are delightful. They give what’s indubitably two of the most communicative, fervent, inspired performances of the year. And for what it’s worth (and considering the outcome of their on-screen relationship, it isn’t worth much), they do make quite the couple.
The best film of the year doesn’t feature a squadron of noisy flip-floppy robots invading the United States, nor does it feature an A-list cast, nope, it’s actually a romantic comedy, captained by two relatively fresh-faced crewman, that’s managed to successfully balance tastes both sugar and sweet, resulting in one deliciously original dish that’s just brimming with zing!
“(500 Days of Summer)” is 2009’s must-see movie.
Extras
In addition to the fourteen minutes of deleted scenes, there’s an informative and enjoyable commentary by Webb, writer Michael Weber, co-writer Scott Neustadter, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
