(500) Days of Summer

This movie had a fair share of buzz surrounding it for much of 2009, and although I'm a year or so late to the party, I'm glad I finally chose to attend. I like unique and interesting movies. There's nothing wrong with a formulaic and generic film when it's well made (see Taken), but when a movie does something unique or interesting, it is a movie you will probably remember more than many others. And for this reason, I enjoyed and will always remember (500) Days of Summer. To start with, you can't even really describe it using genres and phrases. It's got romance in it, and is funny, but is by no means a romantic comedy. It's sort of a coming-of-age tale. It's inspirational, in a way, but for the most part not "feel-good." It felt very realistic. And yet it also felt pretty artsy at times. Director Marc Webb has even tried to refer to it as "a pop song in movie form," hence the parenthesis in the title. It's smart but doesn't seem smugly aware of how smart it is. It's not cynical even though it almost feels like it should be. In a nutshell, the movie is about a boy who falls for a girl and their ensuing (500-day) relationship. We're treated to various snippets from the relationship presented in a nonlinear (but mostly chronological) fashion, allowing us to see more and more pieces of the big picture as the movie goes along. But it's never a puzzle, and it's never presented as one. The relationship, in fact, seems just as standard and mundane as any year-long failed relationship in which one party is pushing the other toward a deeper relationship and the other wants to keep things slow and casual. Again, the whole thing just felt very real and honest. I found it very easy to relate to one character, and I'm sure most people who have ever been "heartbroken" related just as easily. But never once did I feel sorrow or pity for the character in the wake of the break-up, because I knew (and the film more or less expected me to know) that things would turn out just fine after a little bit of time and self-reflection. I dug the whole thing. I think there's something for everyone in (500) Days of Summer, and when I say that I don't mean that it will appeal to various niches for various reasons; I mean that the same main theme of the movie should really resonate pretty well with most people. I don't usually rate movies, but I'd easily give (500) Days of Summer an eight or a nine - pretty sound and flawless in succeeding at what it has set out to do, but still just a tier below "all time amazing movie" status. For a true ten (in my opinion, of course) in a thematically similar vein, please check out Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Now that's an interesting, unique, and beautiful movie.