(500) Days of Summer

It’s been about a week, so I thought I should go ahead and get this review up. A week ago, on July 25^th, I finally saw (500) Days of Summer, and I’m all the better for it.

For those who have been hiding under a rock for the past couple months, (500) Days of Summer is a romantic comedy that got a lot of buzz outta Sundance. The plot that our main character, Tom, meets a girl named Summer and falls in love with her. However, Summer doesn’t believe in love, or really the concept of commitment at all. And this is a tough idea for Tom to wrap his mind around. The movie revolves around Tom coping with this fact, figuring out how to deal with it, and coming to a few realizations of his own.

My review: This movie is absolutely amazing. Go see it now. I don’t care if you already have. Go. Right Now. See it again. You’ll thank me later. This movie will absolutely be on my top films of 2009, if not one of my favorite movies ever. Reason? Well, have you seen it? Joseph Gordon Levitt gives an absolutely superb performance as Tom, a guy who almost anyone who’s ever wanted to be in a relationship or experienced heartbreak can relate to someway or another. I have an urge to watch a couple of more movies he’s been in. A friend of mine says he’s absolutely phenomenal in everything he’s in, citing specifically the movie Brick. We’ll see how that hold up with Levitt plays the baddie in the upcoming G.I. JOE film where he’ll be playing Cobra Commander. Zooey Deschanel, on the other hand, plays the ditsy indie darling that she always does. But somehow, this role seems like it was tailor-made for Deschanel (chances are, it probably was). She plays that girl that doesn’t have anything particularly striking about her, but turns heads none the less. The evolution of the Summer character throughout the film is one of the strong points of the movie, and Deschanel does an excellent job of taking us on this journey.

There are quite a few scenes in the movie that stand out as well. Not just because of the strength of the story at that particular moment, but because of the way they’re shot. Of course, there’s the choreographed dance scene, which is in the trailer. Thought it pops out of almost nowhere, it works perfectly with the movie and is precisely executed; adding to the movie rather than having its camp detract whatsoever. Another scene that comes to mind appears about halfway through the film. The screen divides into two distinct parts, one containing how Tom expects a certain event to go, and the other displaying how it actually goes down. The two play side by side, at the same time. I can’t really break it down any more. It was just really awesome.

I would be a fool not to mention the soundtrack. It’s quietly possibly one of the best soundtracks to a movie that I have ever heard. All you people out there who swear by the Garden State OST need to get out and check this out. It blows it away. It’s not just one distinct style; the music is really all over the place. Every single track fits the movie well, and is fantastic just to listen to. A couple of my favorite include: “She’s Got You High” – Mumm-Ra; “You Make My Dreams”- Hall & Oates; “Us”- Regina Spektor and “Sweet Disposition”- Temper Trap. Seriously, this is an amazing soundtrack and you’re going to appreciate regardless if you’ve seen the movie.

Let’s summarize: GO SEE THIS MOVIE. That is all.