Reviewed by Kate Rodger
A romance for real people, not just for believers in fairytales, 500 Days of Summer is here.
A very rare beast indeed, we finally have a romantic comedy that is in fact, for a change, both romantic and actually a comedy! And that’s not all - 500 Days of Summer comes with a healthy does of angst and heartache, served up to the tune of a very cool soundtrack and stellar performances from all.
Sounds too good to be true? You be the judge - get thee to your nearest cinema!
As the voiceover informs us from the get-go, “This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know up front, this is not a love story”. We know immediately we are in for something a little different.
When we first encounter our everyday hero Tom Hansen (played to perfection by rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt) he’s smashing a few dinner plates, his heart broken and refusing comfort from his two dodgy mates. They call for emergency assistance, in this case, Tom’s wise-beyond-her-years younger sister Rachel (Chloe Moretz), who begins to counsel him back to health. The story is told in delightfully leap-frogging sequences back and forth in Tom’s last 500 days of Summer.
Tom works for a greeting cards company, passing the time wishing he had the balls to do what he really wanted, which is architecture. Summer Finn (Indy pin-up Zooey Deschanel) also works at the greeting cards company, and after an early morning encounter in the elevator they find a mutual love of The Smiths. Tom falls head over heels in love.
Tom believes Summer Finn is The One. She’s The One who can truly make him happy.
Summer on the other hand, doesn’t believe in love at all.
A recipe for disaster? That depends. But one thing this certainly is a recipe for, is the near-perfect romantic comedy.
A first time feature outing for director Marc Webb, his music-video lineage is obvious. The film is wrapped up in an addictive collection of chickster pop courtesy of Regina Spektor, intense Brit poetry from The Smiths, and the best use of a Hall & Oates song I can remember.
Get Summer in early this Spring, this one is a must-see.
Five stars.
500 Days of Summer
:: Director: Marc Webb
:: Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel
:: Running Time: 95 mins
:: Rating: M - Low Level Offensive Language
:: Release Date: October 1, 2009
:: Trailer: Click here
source: newshub archive
