Review: (500) Days of Summer

The film (500) Days of Summer goes to great lengths to convince you that it is not a traditional romantic comedy. In fact, the narrator of the story opens the film by directly explaining, "This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story." And yet the plot and character development felt very familiar throughout the film. If (500) Days of Summer is not a traditional love story, then it is the amalgamation of many stories already told.

The "boy" in the story is Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a writer for a greeting card business with dormant aspirations to become a famous architect. His views on the world are as idyllic (and cliche) as the cards he writes; he ascribes to the "one true love" thesis, believing that he will never be happy until he finds his other half. This belief system is put to the test upon meeting Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the new company secretary. She believes that true love is an empty fantasy propagated by the American media. Tom falls for her instantly, but Summer is never ready to emotionally commit. The film chronicles the highs and lows of the relationship between these diametrically opposed and hyperbolic characters through nonsequential flashbacks and blatant symbolism.

While viewing the film, I could not help thinking I had seen this story play out before. When Summer and Tom officially meet for the first time, it is in an elevator. Summer compliments him for The Smiths song he is listening to on his headphones. Thus, their love begins on the mutual love of an independent rock group with a cult following. Sound familiar? If you replace "Smiths" with "Shins", you have the starting point for the main characters of Garden State. This scene actually made me cringe as I watched it, fearing that the entire film would mimic the unfortunate Zach Braff title (thankfully it does not). Still, the elevator scene is less about introducing the relationship than it is about creating an in-group attachment with the audience. (500) Days of Summer also makes allusions to more noteworthy films as well. The Graduate is referenced both by the narrator and in a visual clip. Sid and Nancy is mentioned comically at the beginning of the film as a way of explaining the relationship problems between Summer and Tom. And the film practically begs us to compare it to Annie Hall, though the characters in this film not nearly as deep or intriguing as those in Woody Allen's masterpiece. In sum, the film pays homage to famous love stories of the past, but forgets to actually carve out a place for itself.

This is not a knock against the acting abilities of the two primary characters; in fact, it took a good performance as Summer to convince me that Zooey Deschanel could be unlikeable in any way. Gordon-Levitt is also believable as the film's hopeless romantic. However, these personae are staples of the American film industry. How many films revolve around the relationship between a seemingly normal but insecure man and a beautiful but emotionally quirky woman? Go ahead, see how many you come up with.

The ultimate flaw of the film is that it attempts to buck the American "cookie-cutter" notion of love. However, instead of forging a new direction, the film too often settles for the norm disguised as something fresh and exciting. I will not divulge the ending, but suffice it to say that it is anything but unconventional. If you see the film, you very well may enjoy it. You may enjoy a laugh or two and leave the theater thoughtfully contemplating the meaning of love. You may even relate to its characters in some way from your own previous relationships. Still, I reject the prevailing opinion of most critics that this film provides any new commentary about love in the twenty-first century. As with other recent "independent" comedies, (500) Days of Summer focuses too much attention on being "hip" rather than being novel.

Garden State: 1/5
Annie Hall: 5/5
(500) Days of Summer: 3/5