“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story. This is a story about love.”
This line from the first few minutes of the film perfectly sums up what “500 Days of Summer” truly encapsulates. Directed by Marc Webb and written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, “500 Days of Summer” is a coming- of-age story disguised as a romantic comedy. In the film, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a hopeless romantic, reflects on his past romantic relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) whom he thought would end up together.
Tom is “lovestruck” the moment he first sees Summer at his office. He would catch glimpses of her when she is nearby, awkwardly flashing a smile. When Summer approaches him first for a conversation, Tom has trouble trying to keep it cool. At times when Summer mingles with other coworkers, he would habitually curse at her – denying his crush on her. To anyone who has had a secret crush on someone, Tom is that relatable protagonist who depicts the most candid moments when falling in love.
When such a relatable character undergoes the tragedy of a relationship gone sour, it is easy for the audience to instantly put the blame on his partner Summer. Afterall, Summer is not a conventional female character. While she has the looks and an attractive personality, she is a little different from stereotypically portrayed female characters. She sets boundaries, rejects commitment, and stays adamant to her beliefs. For Tom and the rest of the audience who empathize with him, Summer is plain selfish in this seemingly committed, but clearly open relationship.
Throughout the film, it becomes evident that Tom has never been fully mature enough to settle into a relationship. Infatuated by the pure idea of falling in love, he never fully listened to what Summer wanted in their relationship. Without properly addressing his own feelings and acknowledging Summer’s opinion, he is too self-centered to recognize that the issue between them would never be resolved without the full love and effort from both sides.
Throughout, Tom passively seeks out for miracles to occur when he barely takes charge to make a difference. It takes a while for him to recognize that his own borderline obsessive and overly idealistic vision of love was one of the critical faults behind their failed relationship.
This movie is is a story about love in different shades. Love can be a shade of blue where the mind is full of one special person. Love can be a shade of obsession to the point where wild fantasies and expectations are projected onto another. Love can be a shade of pain, seeing a lover move on. It can also be a shade of growth — an unforgettable lesson that makes one mature.
For those who are sick of sugar-coated romantic comedies and want to watch a realistic depiction of romance, “500 Days of Summer” is a must-watch. From Webb’s dreamy and fun dance sequence to his clever split-screen of Tom’s expectation and reality, almost every scene is produced and executed in an innovative manner — leaving no room for the audience to be bored.
To those who are used to typical happy-ending Hollywood romantic comedies, the film may come off as a major disappointment for its unconventional perhaps even anticlimactic conclusion. Once the audience escapes from the narrow perspective of Tom, takes a step back, and observes the relationship between the two characters in a non-romantic point of view, the spite towards reality and the film becomes gradually bittersweet.