500 Days of Summer

So I saw the must-anticipated indie flick 500 Days of Summer the other night. With my expectations sky high, I prayed that the film wouldn't disappoint. And from the very first scene down to the last shot before the credits rolled, it was brilliant. I will admit that I cried throughout the whole movie. And i never cry during films, with the exception of Moulin Rogue in eighth grade. 

Yes, it had the typical boy meets girl story line, but in this twisted tale the boy never actually gets the girl. True to the tag line, "boy falls in love, girl doesn't." This seemingly simple plot is beefed up with excellent lead actors (Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel), quirky humor, and an extremely heartfelt message on love....but for real this time around. Most romantic comedies these days are filled with idealism and I view them more as fairy tales. This is the first film I've ever seen that I can really relate to- and I'm sure all viewers can too. 

Another lovely aspect of the movie was how the director portrayed the sad little love story, in complete disorder, yet perfectly in sequence. This stylistic choice was never confusing, but instead kept me intrigued so that I never felt that the story dragged on. 

The criticisms I have are rather minor. First off, I thought this movie was set in the 70s or late 60s until there was a shot of two characters playing the Nintendo Wii. Maybe that was intentional, to give the movie a retrospective vibe, but the costuming on both leads could have been modernized a little bit. Nothing wrong with a vintage/quirky look,  but it really threw me off for the first 15 minutes of the film. Another change I'd like to make is the casting of Joseph Gordan-Levitt's buddies. To be frank, both these characters sucked. I mean, you consider that one getting embarassingly drunk and bringing boy and girl together as a pivotal plot move, be my guest. But I felt the companionship was so forced. The actors who were supposedly "best friends" had zero connection. But again, maybe that was the director's intent after all. 

Overall, I found this film to be unique and extremely real. It was heart-wrenching that the hero did not win the heart of the girl he was so desperately in love with, but that's what made it all the better.