“(500) Days of Summer” tries to answer a lot of questions about the nature of love and even about fate, but the most pertinent question is this: Is the female lead in a romantic comedy worthy of pursuit, even though she shows no discernible personality, just because she is played by Zooey Deschanel?
The answer turns out to be yes.
Deschanel stars as Summer, the sometimes obscure object of desire in this low-key but pleasant romantic comedy with a few twists. It is the twists, by and large, that make it so pleasant.
The film tells the story of the 500-day (give or take) relationship between Summer and Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
It’s Tom’s film all the way, told entirely from his perspective. He’s the one we come to know (Summer is a character almost entirely without a backstory), he’s the one looking for our sympathy and understanding. Summer is just the (almost overly) typical Zooey Deschanel character -- quirky, a bit aloof, but ubercute.
Although there is a general progression from the first meeting to the break-up -- we know from the start that they have broken up -- the story is told non-linearly. That is the most mundane of the twists; the others are usually more effective and interesting. First-time director Marc Webb does not hesitate to pull out every idea he has, no doubt, been saving up since film school.
Perhaps the most notable of these is a split screen during a party scene in which Tom’s expectations of what will happen are shown on one side, and what really happens on the other. Almost as good is a fantasy dance sequence that suddenly breaks out when Tom is happy. It is not the sequence itself that is so intriguing (it’s been done before, a lot), but the subtle way Webb connects the sequence to the reason for its being. Tom is happy because of Summer, who, though it is never mentioned, always wears blue. In the dance sequence, everyone dancing also wears blue.
Film geeks will also appreciate the parodies of “The Red Balloon,” “Persona” and “The Seventh Seal” that Tom goes to see when he is unhappy. A title card showing which day of the 500 we are on is also nice, because a tree in the corner changes its foliage depending on the mood of the scene. The overused trick of filming the characters as if they were in a documentary, however, is less successful.
It’s a good thing the twists are included, because the film’s flaws would otherwise be more noticeable. Writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have their share of sitcom moments, from Tom’s precocious younger sister dispensing sage advice to his two standard-issue friends: one wacky, the other a humorous loser. Summer, in the meantime, does not appear to have any friends at all.
Gordon-Levitt, just a teen on “Third Rock from the Sun,” has matured into a fine actor. Here he plays a awkward and likable guy, trying his best to navigate the treacherous shoals of love. Deschanel just plays Deschanel.
Her last few films have been misfires, but in this case, that’s enough.
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