(500) Days of Summer

Posted on: 5 September 2009

I’m not a film critic, so I’ll keep it brief. I went to see 500 Days of Summer last night at the cinema. I was intrigued by the description "The romantic comedy for people who don't like romantic comedies". And I was actually pretty impressed by the film. Although it managed to avoid the clichéd predictable plot of your average romantic comedy it was still fairly easy to guess how it would play out. Still, I found it refreshing.

The structure of the film is dictated by the constant flicking back and forth through time over the 500 days. The film has a kind of depressing tone running throughout it, as you know very early on how things end. With that said, I felt an air of optimism building as the film progressed. If you’re into the more affectionate movies you may struggle to find positives in 500 Days of Summer. However this movie should be given a chance as I found there was a definite quirky charm to it. In addition, I thought both the leading roles, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, performed well throughout the movie and I found it easy to relate to both characters.

I’ve also just ordered the official soundtrack, of which I was very impressed with. The songs fitted very well with the feel of the movie and it was clear they were selected with careful consideration. Songs by The Smiths, Temper Trap, Doves and Wolfmother are all included on it, including a song by Zooey Deschanel’s band She & Him. If you’re into any of the same music I’m into, I recommend you check it out.

Rating: 7/10