(500) Days of Summer (2009), directed by Marc Webb, is riding a wave of viewer adoration. Right now, it's listed in the IMDb top 250 films of all time (113th). All I can assume is that the people who gave the film a 9 or a 10 saw a different movie from the one I viewed in Rochester's Little Theatre.
What I saw is a man, Tom Hansen, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is madly, truly in love with Summer Finn, played by Zooey Deschanel. OK--Deschanel has big, beautiful blue eyes, and lustrous dark hair. Right--very attractive. Is she intelligent? Not very. Is she kind and caring? Not very. Is she compassionate? Not very. Is she attracted to Tom? Not very.
So, we're subjected to 90 minutes of Summer jumping into bed with Tom, all the while telling him that she just wants to be good friends. I guess that's sort of romantic, and it's sort of funny, so technically that makes 500 Days a romantic comedy. It's just not very romantic or very funny.
In addition, just to bring the hilarity to a boil, we get Tom's friends, who are a Greek chorus of losers, and Tom's precocious kid sister, who dispenses worldly wisdom in spare moments while she's playing for her junior varsity soccer team.
My suggestion--if you want a really good romantic comedy, rent "Must Like Dogs," or "Sleepless in Seattle." If you like funny, romantic movies, stay away from "500 Days of Summer." (At least, stay away from the version of the movie that I saw in Rochester.)
What I saw is a man, Tom Hansen, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is madly, truly in love with Summer Finn, played by Zooey Deschanel. OK--Deschanel has big, beautiful blue eyes, and lustrous dark hair. Right--very attractive. Is she intelligent? Not very. Is she kind and caring? Not very. Is she compassionate? Not very. Is she attracted to Tom? Not very.
So, we're subjected to 90 minutes of Summer jumping into bed with Tom, all the while telling him that she just wants to be good friends. I guess that's sort of romantic, and it's sort of funny, so technically that makes 500 Days a romantic comedy. It's just not very romantic or very funny.
In addition, just to bring the hilarity to a boil, we get Tom's friends, who are a Greek chorus of losers, and Tom's precocious kid sister, who dispenses worldly wisdom in spare moments while she's playing for her junior varsity soccer team.
My suggestion--if you want a really good romantic comedy, rent "Must Like Dogs," or "Sleepless in Seattle." If you like funny, romantic movies, stay away from "500 Days of Summer." (At least, stay away from the version of the movie that I saw in Rochester.)