You can post your responses to our class screening this week - 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. We're looking at the film as a un-romantic romantic comedy and the way it plays with genre expectations, subverts, destroys, and recreates them.
500 Days of Summer is not a love story, but it is about love. Although this movie has city setting, its background music is kind of old classic. Which I think it works very well with the character –Summer, who has special classic temperament. This movie is interesting to start from the end of the film, which makes us think that Tom and Summer will finally get together and have a sweat ending, but actually they don’t. It is a little sad, but we should have learnt that moving on is the most important thing to do. Summer is gone, but Autumn is coming. To me, it is so funny when I realize that Tom has been interested at dating with a girl called Autumn. That’s not merely a girl’s name, it means “hope, freshness…” something means moving forward and just let the unhappiness go in order to welcome the new stuffs. In 500 days of Summer, Tom will learn about relationships, reconciliations (a good Ex never dies), Love, Lose and most importantly about moving forward. All in all, what I love about this film is about the most successful part this film does is that it presents the action in a non-linear story format. Jumping between the different days of their relationship keeps the scenes fresh and interesting, as the failed conclusion of said relationship is already given. We will always be expecting that what will happen to Tom and Summer when the numbers of day appear on the screen are closer to day 500. Tom is a character easy to relate to if ever you’ve been in a relationship, however blissful or miserable. He handles both with an air of knowing that only comes from experience of the extreme highs and lows unrequited love can bring. On the other side we have Summer, able to manipulate the audience into sympathizing with her, hating her, longing for her, or simply not understanding her.
On the surface, this film is just another romantic comedy with some unique timeline effects. However, unlike many other romantic comedies I've viewed in my life, this film really hit home with me, and I'm sure that it had an impact on other as well. The reason for this is that Tom's emotions, whether up or down, felt so real and in some instances brought back memories from my high school romantic endeavors. The filmmaker uniquely combined Tom's infatuous, happy-go-lucky persona with his darker, more depressing one, by actually cutting scenes of his joy and sorrow back to back. For example, Tom danced through the streets in utter bliss only then to get off the elevator looking like a wreck. The constant hop between good and bad in Tom and Summer's relationship was actually exhausting at times because as the audience you would be tricked by the director into thinking everything would be okay, only to find out 125 days later, they couldn't stand each other. Despite the ambiguity of the film while it's actually being watched, due to the fact that the audience never actually knows how the story will conclude, this film has a host of lessons underneath its somewhat mannered exterior. This unique story of boy meets girl is not about one relationship clouded by various obstacles, but about the broad topic of love in general. To me, this film said that love is real, and can be real for everybody. Tom might have had extremely strong feelings for Summer, but because they weren't reciprocated the same way, he wasn't actually feeling love. I wasn't sure what message the film was trying to get across until autumn came, and then it was all too clear. Overall, I am not generally a fan of romantic comedies but it was refreshing to watch one and actually be able to take something away from it.
Even though 500 Days of Summer can be seen as a “rom-com” (romantic comedy), it is still very unromantic and confusing at the same time as it even warns us that this is not the typical love story. It must have been especially confusing for Tom to have to go through a relationship with Summer, the independent woman who had no grasp on love at first and who eventually falls for another man. This just goes to show how relationships can either make you or break you. Just as Tom’s heart is broken, the movie uses a choppy and fractured technique to break up the pieces of the relationship and show the audience the events that happen out of order. A typical love story would start from the beginning and tell the story to the end but this one begins with the end scene where the audience is tricked into thinking the outcome will end on a good note which I felt was important. This is one of the main reasons I love the movie. It doesn’t follow the traditional rules of usual romantic comedies. This was my second time watching the movie and I feel that it was a movie many people could relate to. A real relationship is never perfect like the movies usually portray them as. I’m sure many people have been in Tom’s position and seeing the choppy clips of the good times and bad times in his relationship made it that much more realistic. It highlights the fact that love blinds and how easily one can lose themselves in a relationship. This was especially true once they had sex and Tom became ecstatic but then cuts almost immediately to his face of hatred in the elevator after Summer breaks up with him. I especially enjoyed the music choice as well as the editing effects and loved how they incorporated The Smith’s song on the computer and edited it over in the background when Tom was in the office. Although much of the movie is seen through the eyes of Tom, the movie gives both presentations of the boy meets girl story. However, even though I hated Summer ( Zooey Deschanel) for leaving him I still liked the ending where boy meets girl all over again. It just goes to show how love is a renewable process.
Although we have categorized “500 Days of Summer” as the un-romantic, romantic comedy I actually disagree with this statement. The movie did have bits of romance. The film features a boy falling in love with a girl. There were montages and bursts of spontaneity. The film had dancing and animation, definitely hints of a romantic comedy. It is true that in a traditional romantic comedy it is the girl that gushes over the guy, and finds a way to get her man. Usually the female character has romantic fantasies about her boyfriend. Yet, in this film it seems that Tom is the one doing everything he can to woo Summer. Tom is also the one with the romantic images and subsequent negative thoughts of Summer. These visions and fantasies are also generally female traits in traditional romantic comedies. Yet in the end we were betrayed as an audience. The film left us longing for more. We did not get our happily ever after. However, the casting of this film was brilliant. In an Indie film such as this, you need quirky Indie Actors. Although Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are totally adorable, they also have that off beat vibe going for them, which fit so well for this film. Overall this was a great film, and I love the fact that everything doesn’t have to be a big blockbuster film to actually make it in the cinema.
"(500) Days of Summer" plays with the idea of romantic comedy through the plot by avoiding a traditional love story. In this tale, boy meets girl, boy falls in love, but girl doesn't. This movie breaks the traditional format of romantic comedy by using a little gender role swapping. Zooey Deshanel's character Summer, is not just like every other girl. She doesn't want to be anyone's girlfriend and she certainly doesn't fantasize about marriage. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character Tom on the other hand has been a hopeless romantic since he was a young boy. The story focuses on Tom trying to get Summer to commit to a relationship, but she is unwilling and unsure. This movie makes light of a very heavy situation with the witty humor of the script. Tom often says pretty funny lines in his misery. The film switches between times of happiness and misery for Tom, often drawing contrasts on them. This technique prevents the film from ever getting too depressing. It also serves to show a direct comparison between the early stages of their relationship and the later stages as their relationship was nearing its end. Ultimately, as Tom somewhat manages his heartbreak, his hope for love is renewed as he meets new girl Autumn. In this manner, (500) Days of Summer does manage to stay somewhat true to the genre.
From the very opening scene, the audience is told that the movie is not a love story. This is key, because looking at the couple, sitting on a park bench, an engagement ring on her finger, you would immediately assume that is one. The idea that 500 Days of Summer is an anti-love story or un-romantic romantic comedy is fitting. It is romantic in that the two protagonists, Tom and Summer, do meet, fall in love and are together for a while. However, it is also an un-romantic story because both Tom and Summer end up with two entirely different people. The movie plays with genre expectations because even though we are told that the pair do not end up together, throughout the movie we still find ourselves rooting for them.
On the other hand, Tom was the one who taught Summer how to fall in love, and because of this she was able to meet her future husband and fall in love. Tom, similarly met at girl called Autumn in the final scene, who we are led to believe, is his future wife. Overall, I liked how the movie was not continuous, it jumped from day to day, starting with the end and then going to the beginning and then only showing certain key moments in Tom and Summer's relationship. I found this to be both interesting and unusual, but it also worked well.
I thought this movie was great precisely because it was this “unromantic romantic comedy,” but I think there was a lot of romance in this movie. There were many moments such as the run through Ikea that were very romantic and fun. It’s this sort of realism in romance that I enjoyed in this film. It wasn’t over the top and grand; it was simple and real and mundane. These are the types of moments that can either be extremely romantic or mundane as the film showed. The scene of the early start to the relationship showed great romance in the store, but then there was the shot of being in the store some time later in the relationship and it’s not romantic. It’s a chore, and Tom is meagerly trying to rekindle that romance which Summer is having none of. The way the film was framed is unique, and I think directly confronts the formulaic style of romantic comedies. You see these moments of great joy as the relationship progresses, and the next shot is one of misery when it ends. These shots are connected through the same thread, but it is under two distinct emotional circumstances. What really broke down the procedure of romantic comedies for me was the fact that it was never really easy for Tom to initiate the relationship with Summer. In most romantic comedies it seems like the circumstances make it so easy for the love interests to come together as if it’s by some divine intervention. There is no awkward failure and stumbles along the way. There may be some grand emotional obstacle, but to me it most always seemed too contrived. Here you had small blunders such as when Tom plays up The Smiths on his computer in hopes of getting Summer’s attention. These small failures and the role that Tom plays with all his expectations and hopes about love are what attracted me to this film. It shows that men can be just as pathetically romantic as women can be portrayed in film, and by contrast women can be as remote and disconnected as Summer. If anything, this movie expands gender roles to reflect the complexity of romance that truly exists. I think more people can connect to this rather than the tired machismo of Mathew McConaughey and the spirited barbie-girl femininity of Kate Hudson.
I think the real point of 500 Days of Summer is the last part when Summer explains to Tom that she just woke up and realized that she wanted to marry her new boyfriend. She says that everything she now has with him is everything she had been unsure of with Tom. This must have been very painful for Tom to hear this from the girl he thought he loved, but in a way it was also encouraging. It showed that now even Summer, who at first didn’t believe in true love at all, now had experienced it. It shows Tom that even though Summer wasn’t his true love, his true love is still out there. The last scene when he meets Autumn in the waiting room turns the sad ending into a cute and hopeful ending. Although the movie truly wasn’t a love story, it had everything to do with love, or the lack of love. I think it was encouraging to any viewers that didn’t previously believe in love, since it shows Summer (someone that they can relate to), fall in love. Typical love stories on the other hand can be depressing for people that don’t believe in true love because they are so cliché and the viewer sees the events of the movie as so unrealistic and will know that they’ll never be able to experience those things.
I went in expecting 500 Days of Summer to be an unentertaining film, but came out pleasantly surprised. To begin with though, classifying this movie as an "un-romantic romantic comedy" just seems like a marketing ploy to appeal the film to audiences who consider themselves too intelligent for romantic comedies or disdain of their widespread presence as low brow films. Saying 500 Days of Summer isn't a love story or a romantic comedy is just appealing the film to the same crowd who can associate with its Indie nature, Zooey Deschanel as the lead actress, the use of alternative rock indie music, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's need to carry a satchel throughout the movie; the crowd known as so-called "hipsters". The film is full of comedy, and it is about romance, even though Tom and Summer do not end up together; ergo, I would classify it as a romantic comedy. I think a truly un-romantic romantic comedy would probably end in a much more miserable fashion than this one: Tom would never find love, or someone would die in a horrific accident and we'd be left feeling the world is a terrible place. All that being said, I still did enjoy the movie. Romantic films are truly all about chemistry between the leads, and Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Summer and Tom demonstrated that beyond a doubt. The best part about the film is the reversal of the typical gender roles: the boy is the one who believes in true love, but the girl does not. The film is both entertaining and poignant, and the way in which it is told in a fractured manner of the varying days of Summer not only keeps the audience engaged in how things are going to reach the conclusion, but also allows them to gain a more intimate understanding of Tom's situation. His moments of happiness and despair are powerful contrasted together, such is in the elevator scenes or Tom's descriptions of Summer's qualities. Overall, the film does make an interesting argument towards the power of fate. Had Tom never met Summer, he may never have left his job, pursued his dream of architecture, or met Autumn at the interview. So in the end, the film really is about romance and its ups and downs.
500 days of summer is an entertaining un-romantic romantic comedy that skews all my previous thoughts that every love story was the same. In this movie it was the boy, instead of the girl, who couldn’t be happy unless he found true love, and the girl played the classic “boy” role in not really thinking about love unless it came right before him. The movie is a play on gender roles in that it seems that the guy, Tom, is the one often teaching the girl, Summer, about what love truly is and what relationships are all about. The girl seems to not be having any of it, and doesn’t believe in true love because it wont last because we are always changing throughout life and when we are young “we mind as well have fun when we can.” From an outside perspective, my guy friends usually have the same outlook on love that Summer does in this film, rather than Tom, and they want to stay free and not tied down. Another aspect of this film that I liked was that it portrayed the fact that there are not always happy endings and life and we don’t always get what we want. The film storyline was so real while staying away from being cliché. Instead of being like other movies, where two meet and live happily ever after, Tom and Summer’s relationship status changes from good to bad over and over and in the end they separate. I love how this movie portrays “real” life so well, and I could relate Tom and Summer’s story to what many of my friends have been through. It’s never always smooth sailings in life, we all have to make way through obstacles, and this film very well depicts that.
In watching ‘500 Days of Summer’ for what seems to be the millionth time, I noticed the questions it presents about love. One of the points made within the film is that you never truly know who ‘the one’ is. For example, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and is immediately captivated by her. He refers to her as ‘the one’ to his friends, who have their doubts, and his little sister, Rachel (Chloe Moretz). In a later scene between Tom and Rachel, she admits to him that she never believed Summer was the one for him. Rachel and Tom are the perfect contrast between one another, because although she is merely a child, she knows more about love than Tom does, while he holds the beliefs about love Rachel should have at her age. He listens to her more carefully then he does to his friends, and their relationship is one of the many highlights of the film. Another perfect example about ‘the one’ is when Summer marries an unknown man. He never appears on screen, his name is never revealed, and we never see any interaction between him and Summer. ‘The one’ is an illusion, someone we give a face and name to in our minds. We want to believe that we know who ‘the one’ is, but as it is displayed in the film, we never find out. Summer may have married ‘the one’ or, on a different note, Tom may have been ‘the one’. Both of them manage to move on from each other, Tom to the ironically named girl, Autumn, who symbolizes a new season, a new chapter in his life, and perhaps ‘the one’, and Summer to the invisible man who was better than Tom, at least in Summer’s eyes. The color scheme is interesting, blue being the most represented color of the spectrum. Blue symbolizes sincerity, which is ironic, because the relationship between Summer and Tom is far from sincere, and the color is used to highlight Summer. Summer is insincere, and takes part in a false, meaningless relationship with Tom, even when she knows he is falling in love with her. Everywhere Summer is, there’s blue, in her eyes, on her outfits, in her hair. When she’s not on the screen, there are more grays, emphasizing Tom’s depression without her, and the lack of color and sincerity in his life. In all honesty, 500 Days of Summer is one of my favorite films, and tells a beautiful story of the harsh realities of heartbreak and the loss of love.
For a romantic comedy with not much deviance from the most standard film of this genre, I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few things that stood out that I thought separated this movie from being another bland love story. First off, the timeline of which the movie was created, that being the back and forth between the “500 days of Summer” gave the viewer reason to have continued interest. Although this informed the audience of what would normally be happening later on in the movie, it did really emphasize that something possibly devastating or monumental would happen on that 500th day. That it did. Once Tom realized that his lifelong belief of fate was more or less something superficial, he was finally able to open up and move on from what he thought was his one and only true love. Of course meeting Autumn, ironically, could have ended after a quick coffee together, it gave the movie a warm, not too overdone Hollywood ending. Another thing I liked about this film was the realness to it and how the plot could be of meaning to many people watching it. I thought the two actors played their roles flawlessly and did a very convincing job. I thought Zooey Deschanel was a great selection to play the lead because I always felt as if she was somewhat of a tease, and clearly that’s what she was supposed to be for Tom. The cinematography, although simple for the most part did do a nice job of incorporating little nuances throughout. The one part of this that stood out the most for me was when Tom showed up at Summer’s party. The film was edited in a split screen fashion where half was showing Tom’s expectations, AKA what he hoped would happen, and the other half showing the reality. Interestingly enough, I felt as if this was a huge turning point in their relationship.
500 days of summer is a refreshing and rare movie with emotional realism, which already begins by telling the audience the ending of the movie and that it is not a love story. Regardless, I had other expectations and still hoped that the movie would have a different ending and that Summer and Tom would end up together as it is expected in any romantic comedy. This movie converts the classical romantic Hollywood movie, which shows how a relationship begins, stops, resumes and ultimately ends, into a fantastical movie that breaks up the chronological narrative into different pieces giving it another perspective. These shattered scenes help with the romantic confusion experienced by Tom. The movie, which is a lovely comedy, is basically about Tom wrestling with the reality that Summer does not want to have a long lasting relationship with him. Even though the film appears disjointed, the structure puts a fresh twist on elements. For example, when Tom is thrilled after their first sleep-over, there is this musical that is unexpected. He enters the lobby so happy. The movie then cuts directly to Tom in the elevator after his break up, extremely sad. I loved the parts of the split-screen where you could see the expectations Tom had when meeting Summer and the reality played out side by side. Its is very interesting how Summer remains mysterious all throughout the film; we never get fully acquainted with her feelings. We only know that she does not believe in love due to her parents divorce. On the other hand, we are more close to Tom’s feelings and his life. We can see joy, depression, uncertainty and hope in Tom's psyche. Summer and Tom are two characters who seem to have chemistry as a couple but that are opposite characters in that he is optimistic and expressive, while she is a restrained realist. Although the film is told mostly from Tom's viewpoint, Summer’s feelings help to reject the perfect combination that makes a conventional romantic comedy.
When I saw the trailer of this movie, I thought it would be really boring. I felt it was like an old movie (intended to be from the 80s I mean), but it turns out it was not. I think the movie is a little slow to be honest, I felt it kept the same pace all throughout. It is not a bad movie either, in my opinion, but I believe I could have been better. The reason I believe this is because of how it ends. We see a whole movie about a story of two people who do not know what they are, a story that for the audience (or at least for me), has just one ending/outcome: Tom and Summer will end up being together. But it was the complete opposite, Summer married someone else. The unexpected occurred, to me. For me it was watching a story which its outcome does not reflect the story itself, or as I hoped it would. However, after a while since I finished watching it, I started to be a little more open to how it ended. Clearly they had no chemistry by the end, they were unsure of what they wanted and where they stood, but they learned and gained a lot from the time they were “together”. I also found some scenes in the movie to be very weird really, like when he is dancing with some other people in a park, along with a cartoon bird; and the scene in IKEA in which they pretend to be married I think. I honestly do not understand why they would include such scene; it was strange to me and completely unnecessary in my opinion.
500 Days of Summer is a more realistic romantic comedy. I think it can still be classified as a romantic comedy even though the two main characters do not end up together. There were definitely comedic and romantic elements to the film. The film is about a relationship, which ends up not being "THE" relationship that most rom-coms focus on. I think the film uses a fresh approach and was well done.
Some elements to the film that I found interesting was the use of a narrator and some black and white scenes. The use of the narrator did a good job at telling the story and showing the audience the 500 days of Tom and Summer's relationship so to speak. The use of black and white was interesting and served as an interview technique of Tom and his friends. The music in the film was probably my favorite part. The use of sounds and songs was extremely well placed and conveyed the emotion of each scene perfectly.
The character of Tom would traditionally be the female role in most romantic comedies. The same goes for Summer playing the male role. I think reversing them adds a fresh twist to the over done genre. I also really enjoyed Tom's sister acting as his sort of mentor throughout the film even though she is very young. I also thought finding out the ending at the beginning worked well in this movie.
The use of color was interesting to me in this film. Blue was used a lot to signify the good times in their relationship and gray and black signified the bad times. I also noticed green was used when Tom was hopeful about something. The blue also was used to portray the season summer, which switched to a yellow for autumn at the end. Making the inside of the building the yellowish color at the end was interesting and showed the start of "autumn." I have never noticed coloring so much in a movie and although it was blatantly obvious I think it worked well.
500 Days of Summer brings a fresh perspective to the genre of romantic comedy. The movie accurately portrayed a relationship that eventually ends, which is the case with most. I think adding more realism to the film is what makes it relatable to a lot of people. Some audiences are tired of seeing the same old romantic comedy where the guy gets the girl in the end and they live happily ever after.
I loved (500) Days of Summer because of the way it plays with the romantic comedy genre and the audience's expectations. The movie's whimsical and slightly satirical tone is clear from the opening narration, where the narrator explicitly states, "This is not a love story, but it is a story about love." In a traditional rom-com, audiences would expect the film's plot to follow the conventions of the genre: a couple meets, falls in love, has some relationship troubles, but finally resolves their differences and lives happily ever after. (500) Days takes these conventions and turns them over, instead creating a much more accurate and realistic representation of modern relationships. Instead of two "soulmates" who resolve all their problems and have a perfect, idealistic relationship, the movie follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), two regular adults that have a relationship that just doesn't work out. I think that one of the reasons this movie was such a hit with audiences is because of the realism in the relationship. The film's satirical qualities and examination of expectations are obvious in two specific scenes: the extended musical sequence following the first time Tom and Summer have sex, and the later "expectations vs. reality" scene at Summer's apartment. The first uses animation and exaggerated music and dance cues to augment Tom's elated feelings, while the second uses split-screen and subtitles to illustrate the differences in Tom's expectations and reality, paralleling the audience's experience with the film. Overall, the reason that the film truly succeeds to me is its realism, tempered by a strong sense of optimism. Just because Tom and Summer don't work out doesn't meant that Tom won't find love. And just because the movie doesn't play out the way we as an audience expect it to doesn't mean it won't be great.
500 days of summer is a movie about the intense relationship, or rather the friendship, between Tom and Summer and is being told through 500 days where there are good moments but unfortunately, more bad ones for their relationship. What interested me the most were all the original aspects of the movie. The calendar, which shows which of the 500 days the current scenes portrayed, helped the audience keep track on where in the movie we were. You don’t have to think and be confused that much, even though the movie is moving back and forth in time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is thus a movie en the same genre however it differs to 500 days of summer as the story confuses the audience. Moreover, there are different sequences in 500 days of summer that is made in a very impressive way, often to emphasize Toms feelings. I also believe the actors’ do a good job throughout the movie. The main character Tom, played by Joseph Gordon – Levitt, is especially impressive as he is portrayed successfully as happy, angry, sad and insecure. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer, and she also is playing well as the director wants to portray her as what Tom calls her “a unique girl”. Another thing I like about the movie that even though is a classic love story movie, it is occasionally very funny, and there is a few times the awkward moments really make you laugh. All in all a sad story, however a good movie and I would recommend others to see it.
(500) Days of Summer is not as bad as my friends made it out to be. Granted they were right, Zooey Dechanel (aka Summer Flynn) is a complete robot, just as Joseph Gordon-Levitt ( Tom Hanson) said she was, but her robotic characteristic is understandable in the context of the movie. The movie is an un-romantic, romantic comedy. The robotic characteristic is somewhat comical, it really gets the audience to side with Tom. The comparisons are also comical, like how he describes her when he loves her “ I love her heart shaped freckle” compared to how he describes her when he hates her “ I hate her cockroach shaped freckle”. The audience thinks the movie is a romantic-comedy movie because of the starting scenes and narration: “January 8th, Tom knows she is who he has been searching for.” This film seems like a romantic comedy especially once it flashes to the couple sitting on the bench in the park, with the engagement ring on Summer’s finger. The audience assumes they are engaged which is a funny trick as the audience later finds out. One of the reasons I like this movie is because it is not what it seems—it is not a romantic movie, but it sure does start like one. One of my favorite examples of why this movie is a rom-com is the scene after Tom has sex with Summer. He exits the building, sees himself as Harrison Ford in reflections and then does a musical number in the park. It’s so unexpected that it’s comical. Plus, the audience has a connection with Tom’s character because after you finally succeed in getting what you’ve been chasing, it does feel like life is a music, only in Tom’s case it becomes literal. I believe this movie not only fits into the rom-com genre, but also the indie film genre. It is not at all like a traditional movie since it bounces back and forth in time. It reminds me of Juno in how the subtext is laid out throughout the film. It fits into the indie film genre, like a key in a lock, when Tom is going over to Summer’s house and the film gives a side by side comparison of reality versus expectations. I really liked that aspect since it gave the audience insight into Tom’s head. That aspect made the movie more real to me since I also daydream about what is going to happen. I don’t get to visually compare side by side my expectations and reality, but I think the director did a very adequate job.
Very few romantic comedies in today’s modern era can actually blend comic and emotional strength towards the viewer. 500 days of summer achieves that objective and with quite craft in every department. Gordon –Levitt’s adaptation as tom showed how far he has come from Nolan’s inception. His handling of different emotions and his ability to involve the reader in his rollercoaster journey defines the fine actor he is of our generation. Zooey deschanel, who I’ve always appreciated from her previous works especially yes man. She also provides a fresh and quirky performance that complement well with the setting and the mood of the movie. The film itself can be seen as sweet, heartbreaking, conventional. I can go on and on, yet this movie is something unique. Works of art you rarely see in cinema these days. The movie reminds me a lot of one of my favorite romantic “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind”. the way the story unfolds, cinematography and the music are fine examples of what makes both the movies so memorable in the viewers mind. 500 days of summer hits the right notes, its original, upbeat and a mere perfect script makes this movie a must see romantic comedy.
500 Days of Summer is a very unique romantic comedy that changes up many of the typical stereotypes about relationships and love. Having never seen nor heard about the movie beforehand, I expected the typical fall in love, have problems, resolve problems, and live happily ever after story. I was surprised and somewhat excited to see that the film was different and shows a relationship that simply does not work out. I found this interesting because in real life, most relationships do not work out so it was nice to see an aspect of reality in a romantic comedy. The colors of the film were very representative of the emotions going on in the lives of Tom and Summer. When they were happy there were a lot of blues and lighter colors, but when the relationship wasn't going well, the colors were much grayer. Another thing I found to be unique about the film is that the gender roles were switched in comparison to most other romantic qualities. Tom played the more loving, extroverted lover whereas Summer was much more masculine and introverted about her feelings. Tom and Summer have amazing chemistry in the film and I believe that is one of the reasons the film is so enjoyable. Their performances allow us to feel the love, humor, awkwardness, and other feelings that they are feeling. Also, many films that skip around from time period to time period often confuse the viewers. In this case, the calendars with the specific day of their relationship really helps us as viewers to stay aware of where we are in the story. While there is a serious tone to much of the film, it is surprisingly funny which in my opinion adds to the appeal of the film. Overall, while the story is somewhat sad, I really enjoyed the film because it is nice to see a unique spin on the romantic comedy.
"500 Days of Summer" is one of those movies that's grown on me over time. When I first saw it when it was in theatres, I liked it at first, but thought it dragged on a little long and was relieved when it was finally over. Ironically, me and the two girls in our group were glad it was finally over after dragging on the last third or so, but the two guys didn't feel the same. Like I said, I thought that was ironic.
Now, I'm finding it's one of those movies I like watching different bits at different times, but to watch it as a whole makes me hesitate a bit. I will say I liked the score, but the idea that every guy would look at that one girl takes me out of it a bit.
The color scheme and juxapositions of the placement of the scenes (or the editting of the scenes) was interesting. I liked how they would jump all over the place, making it more interesting and engaging than simply going in order.
It didn't hurt that I like Matthew Gray Gubler from "Criminal Minds" who played one of the best friends (though like in quite a few seasons of "Criminal Minds," his hair could've used some work). I also liked the character of the sister. I actually found the supporting characters more interesting than the main characters in this film, which was actually really nice. Normally, you're supposed to like the leads and be entertained by the supporting players, but I liked the change - the supporting characters felt more fleshed out with less time on screen than the stereotypical leads. I say stereotypical because that's what they are - while many may argue it's the reverse to make the guy more like the girl and vice versa, it's not exactly a new idea anyone should be surprised by - for some reason, it felt like nothing new to me.
All in all, I own the film, but I haven't actually watched it since I bought it, but it's there if I want to, which I guess is kind of how I feel about the movie as a whole - it's a cute and entertaining film, if not a tad annoying at times for various reasons. I like it, but not enough to watch it as much as other films I truly love.
500 Days of Summer is a romantic comedy that inverts many of the traditions of the genre in order to critique contemporary dating habits. To me, the strongest example of this is gender inversion. Tom is the hopeless romantic, while Summer is the strong independent figure struggling to balance isolation and companionship. Whereas Tom may adopt the concept of making love, Summer adheres to the maxim of having sex without complicating things with a serious relationship. Furthermore, the film focuses largely on Tom’s feelings and his circle of friends rather than Summer’s. As a result, Summer is portrayed as an aloof recluse who initiates and terminates the relationship at will, without considering Tom’s feelings. In fact, the film’s unconventional timeline forces the viewer to consider the devastating effects of the breakup rather than indulge in the transient happiness of the relationship. Overall, I believe this is a critique on the effects of women’s sexual independence. The fairytale of women maintaining their chastity until they’re wooed by a handsome beau is dead. Instead, the preponderance of divorce and other problems bring about disillusionment. Women do not wait for love (or more specifically sex) to come to them, but instead seek it for themselves. Men, on the other hand, have become just as emotionally vulnerable as women were in the past. It is Tom, not Summer, who adopts a fairytale of true love. However, the film concludes with Summer falling in love and Tom potentially wooing the “right” one. So although the film depicts an unconventionally unromantic relationship, it ends with the optimism and gender roles of traditional romantic comedies. Therefore, I believe that the film is a true romantic comedy that incorporates post-modern sensibilities to paint a more realistic portrayal of love in the 21st century.
I know exactly how I felt when I saw the trailer of “500 Days of Summer” three years ago. It was released in 2009 as many other romantic comedies. I haven’t watched the movie at this time because I saw “The Ugly Truth” and “The Proposal” and I thought this would be a terrible romantic comedy, too. However, in the class screening I felt that this decision was wrong. I should have watched it instead of the other two because this is an outstanding, realistic, and beautifully made romance movie with an excellent humor.
Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) felt deeply in love with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) who is just looking for fun and isn’t interested in a relationship at all. This is unique as generally women are falling in love for men and they have to “open” their eyes. However, Tom fails, and Summer is getting married with another man (the viewer doesn’t even get to know who he is). This feels out of place for a romantic movie. However, this makes the film so memorable, too. In real life, not everyone is happy in a relationship. Moreover, not everyone is returning someone’s love. The story “500 Days of Summer” and the outstanding performance of Tom, who is changing realistically from extremely delighted (after having sex with Summer) to depressive (when she breaks up with him without any reason), focus on this “love” realism perfectly. The movie departs from the romantic comedy tradition and makes out of a true love story a roller coaster ride of emotions which ends in nowhere.
Along this remarkable story, I have to point out the great job of editing. Switching between the 500 days of romance and letting the viewer see, how the relationship between the protagonists changed during 500 days, is impressive. I think the greatest impact on me had the elevator scene. After Tom had sex with Summer, he danced through the streets and went into the elevator happily. Lots of days later he is leaving it with a depressive face. One doesn’t expect this sudden change. Therefore, one wants to get to know more about the relationship and why everything changed so dramatically. Of course, this interest is awakened by other visual effects (happy scenes are bright, depressive are dark and greyish), too. But, the editing is the most memorable part along with the excellent performance and storyline. All in all, I enjoyed the movie much, and I believe it is the best romantic comedy film of the past years.
500 Days of Summer, a 2009 comedy film written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, is a fascinating film in that it reverses the stereotypical male and female roles. The film employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memory-driven look at a failed relationship. I personally found the use of a nonlinear structure to be highly effective and was a great way to keep the audience engaged in the story. The fact that the audience had to sort out all of the action that occurred on screen bit by bit really helps make the film unusual in a positive way.
I found the fact that Tom Hansen and Summer Finn never got engaged, or at least moved further in their relationship, to be a little disappointing, but clearly there were better things in store for both people. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of scenes where Tom is looking incredibly happy and scenes where he appears to be miserable shocks the audience and makes them wonder what could have possibly happened to have caused such distress. Despite all this I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, so all in all it was probably right for Tom and Summer to split up and start afresh.
500 Days of Summer was definitely one of the best romantic films of the past few years and despite being a un-romantic romantic comedy definitely made the audience feel strongly towards all the characters in the story.
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote 500 Days of Summer. It is classified as a nonlinear narrative romantic comedy, however it strays very far from the generic romantic comedy genre. This film goes far away from the typical boy meets girl, some sort of struggle or conflict, then boy and girl end up together structure. Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a hopeless romantic who falls in love with Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. Summer is looking for a fling while Tom is looking for a serious relationship. This directly opposes societies view that women are always looking for a serious commitment and men want a no strings attached relationship. Summer ends the relationship, but ends up getting married shortly after. This crushes Tom, and in someway the movie viewers, who thought Summer was the love of his life. The structure of jumping back and forth in time through the relationship was very original and created this dramatic difference between generic romantic comedies. One of the most significant and well thought out scenes were the two ways in which Tom came out of the exact same elevator. The happiness he expressed due to just having sex with Summer in the first time contrasted to the devastation he portrayed the next time after breaking up with her. This really demonstrates the astounding abilities of both the writers and the director. Although the preview makes it seem as another chick flick for women to go see, I would recommend it to both men and women who will equally appreciate the film
I have seen 500 days of summer many times. Even though I am a huge fan of traditional romantic comedies, I felt like this movie did not fit the same stereotypical mold for this genre. I love this movie because it is so different. I felt the roles of the female and male parts in this movie were reversed from a traditional romantic comedy. In 500 days, Tom is the hopeless romantic while Summer acts more unemotional. The gender roles were completely reversed. From the very beginning the narrator out right says, "This is not your typical love story", and I completely agree. I love how you get to watch the movie from Tom's point of view while in traditional love stories, it is always from the girls view of the relationship. Tom wants a relationship with Summer while Summer wants to be non committed. I love how the film portrays the relationship on different days. There are always flash backs from when the relationship was bad and to when it was good. Something else that was interesting was how Tom was getting advice about Summer from his younger sister. Usually in traditional romantic comedies, the leading girl always needs advice from her girl friends. In 500 days, we never see Summer's family nor any friends. This story is all about Tom's life. I feel like this movie teaches you a lesson while other romantic comedies are just for your enjoyment. Sometimes there are problems in the relationship but you never do anything about it because you are too in love and delusional. When Tom looks back at his past with Summer, he realizes that there were many issues and Summer never treated him right. Summer never loved him back and he failed to realize that.
I think that 500 days of summer is pretty good movie, because you are expecting it to be like any other romantic movie with a happy ending and then it turners to be the contrary. I also like the way that the story was related, i does not start in the first day, it is a kind of the two time that the protagonist was living, one part everything was pretty good, he was in love etc, and the other part like always depressed because the girl just broke up with him. I considered that it is a romantic movie, but no so romantic. The guy was in love and suddenly, she told him to be friends and actually disappear, and you expect the to be together again and that never happens, i think is pretty good how the director created this kind of difference from this movie to others.
500 Days of Summer tempts audiences with the idea of a perfect love story and, though it doesn’t stray far from other romantic comedies at first, it leaves us brokenhearted. The film unexpectedly exposes a sense of humanity that most male leads try to conceal. Tom mourns his relationship with Summer: he tries to understand what went wrong and it takes reliving his days with her over and over again to realize that she never really intended to stick around. Our ability to see a fragile male lead reveal his inner turmoil sets 500 Days apart from the rest. Role reversal shatters the formula for modern romantic comedies. We see a woman with power, taking charge of a relationship that isn’t really a relationship at all and walking away without hesitation. We see Tom’s sister playing the would-be male confidant and nursing him out of his sadness. 500 Days of Summer establishes a new theme of female empowerment and male helplessness that seems like it’ll take modern cinema by storm within the next few years.
This movie sets itself apart because the technique the director Marc Webb uses of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Without a normal sequence it makes the film much more interesting to watch than any other standard one. The message it gives the audience that says things do not happen because of destiny but because of pure coincidence is definitely something that leaves one in a state of reflection. As the quote says, “The coarse of love never run smoothly”, this movie revolutionizes the whole meaning of love and portrays an example of the many complex relationships that exist in the world. It is not a classical rom-com because it portrays the non-cliché type of relationship that is not often shown on the big screens.
Although it follows the same pattern of a com-rom movie, it is portrayed different; it is presented without the ordinariness of the label, it surprises the audience with its resolution. It is engaging how its ending becomes unexpected and startling.
On the other hand, it was nice to observed how the dynamic of Summer and Tom’s relationship is presented. It actually covers de entire stages of it with out the happy ending but a more really one. Where the situation of loving your ex can happen even though it’s hard. People will always love their ex but there needs to be a closure of the cycles.
"500 Days of Summer" is one of the more clever romantic comedies I have seen. The romantic comedy genre is usually highly predictable and cheesy, but I feel that this is exactly where "500 Days of Summer" didn't go. The editing of the film is what makes it most interesting to me. I think that the use of the numbered days adds a very new, interesting element to this movie. I liked that it wasn't necessarily day 1 then day 2 and so on, but that they would skip from the end to the beginning and show you what happens in the middle. This brought the movie out of the typical predictable romantic comedy. Another reason this film was atypical for me was the realistic take on the romantic comedy. If real life relationships were as most romantic comedies depict them to be then every person in the world would be in a relationship at all times. But, this film takes a real world look at relationships. The relationship failed and not for any obvious reasons other than one party in the relationship wasn't as into it as the other. The dialogue was also a high point of this movie for me. The dialogue is witty and funny, and not necessarily stupid comedy. I enjoy a good stupid humor comedy, but I particularly enjoy the way the movie makes you think but remains funny.
Gaurav Dhiman Although I consider myself a cinephile, I cannot say that romantic comedy is a genre that I have followed closely. Horror, action, drama, yes, but romantic comedy, no. The genre has so many conventions that most basically seem the same. Boy meets girl. Some spark fly. There’s tension. The couple gets together for good. Always true.
Well, except in the case of 500 Days of Summer. We do not get the “feel good” ending or story that we normally expect. In fact, the movie plays out more like real life, with the real tribulations of relationships. For every successful relationship, there are probably two or three more failed ones. The movie may be depressing, but it is based in reality. I can dig that. Not only does the movie have an independent and sobering take on the concept of romance, but it also plays with style. I will most remember this film for its unique methodology of flashbacks. The movie jumps around like almost no other. It also uses numbered days to indicate where exactly in the story we are. In my opinion, this unique filmmaking style lends to the overall chaos in the film, but not in a bad way. On the contrary, the style matches the chaos of our own human lives. Things do not go as smoothly as we ever intend them, if they do at all. More often, coincidence, chance, mistakes, and plain stupidity drive the events of our lives. Things do not always turn out for the best.
Like most other girls my age, I am a fan of romantic comedies. This one in particular, made me not embarrassed of this guilty pleasure. 500 Days of Summer is a clever, and witty film with cutting-edge editing that I believe will influence future films. An example of an editing tactic I like in this movie was the numbering of days to help you as the movie moved around not chronologically. Another think I took out of this movie was how it surprised me. For one, it wasn't the typical romantic-comedy happy ending, which I admire; and second, the musical scene. I would never have expected the main character to break out into song, let alone take the scene out of its realistic context and involve animation into this clearly theatrical setting. After seeing this movie i was satisfied, and happy to not have just seen another movie about an unrealistic love story. Everything about this movie was modernized and it worked, it depicted truth of society today.
500 Days of Summer was a delightfully refreshing romantic comedy written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, that essentially turns a stereotypical romantic comedy’s general plot line on its head. Since I have started dating my girlfriend last year, I have seen more chick flicks (or romantic comedies) than I ever imagined possible given my “esteemed” taste in motion pictures. The general formula for most of these romantic comedies go something like this: two unsuspecting partners meet, they soon find themselves unexpectedly attracted to each other, one of them hurts their lover in such a way that threatens the existence of their relationship until finally, all is resolved as they kiss each other and live happily ever after. Personally, this leaves me as a viewer feeling bored, yet mildly content at best. On the other hand, 500 Days of Summer, instills a unique, non-linear plot development in such a brilliant way, that it forces the viewer to ingest and evaluate the relationship as a whole, rather than viewing it simply from the crushing, unexplained break up we are left with.
In many ways, this film appears to intentionally defy and contort the typical romantic comedy. First off, there is a deliberate gender role reversal present in Tom Hansen and Summer Finn’s relationship. While Tom falls deeply, inescapably in love with Summer from Day 1, Summer whimsically declares on several occasions that she is just looking for fun and doesn’t even believe in love. Furthermore, if this story fell along the lines of most romantic comedies, Tom would prove Summer wrong and she would eventually find true love with him. Unfortunately, she shocks the viewer by announcing that she has become engaged to another man shortly following their breakup, ripping both Tom and the audience’s heart out of their chest. Though this is blasphemy in the romantic comedy world, it is brutally honest in its representation of most real world relationships. In all relationships, there is a time in which it seems (at least to one person) that they have found a once in a lifetime love with each other. And in most cases, that feeling is not reciprocated after a certain point, and the relationship comes to an end. Through its juxtaposition of “happy” and “sad” scenes plus its uniquely designed format, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber do a phenomenal job at providing the audience with a hilarious, yet very real representation of the course most relationships take, in one of the most un-romantic romantic comedies seen in recent years.
The first time I saw 500 Days of Summer, I was forced to view it by a friend. A lot of times when you are forced to see something, you don’t like it, but this movie was able to win me over with originality and witty jokes. The movie starts out with the lines “this is not a love story” but the funny thing is it is. The reason it’s not a “love story” is because the main character, Tom, doesn’t get the girl at the end of the movie, Summer. It is hard, almost impossible to name another romantic movie where the hero doesn’t get the girl. Does the guy always have to get the girl for a movie to be a love story? Are genres so defined by modern movie makes, and have such defined formulas that anything different doesn’t fit the genre? The common formula for the modern love story/romantic comedy is boy meets girl, falls in love, some sort of conflict, resolution, kiss, happy ending. It is seen in Hitch, Wedding Crashers, When Harry Met Sally, etc. 500 Days of Summer does a very good job of going outside the traditional lines of a romantic comedy, but stays one nonetheless. The movie even makes fun of traditional love with my personal favorite scene. Tom, a worker at a greeting card company, is depressed because of love and makes a new card with the lines “roses are red, violets are blue, f*** you whore!” 500 Days of Summer is able to bend the traditional lines of the romantic comedy to make a new funny interesting story.
(500) Days of Summer is a dark romantic comedy twisting the lead female charter to be a heartbreaker, forcing the male lead into a depression. The typical cycle of a romantic comedy is a love story (boy meets girl) with essentially the same style, but different characters. This act of two unlikely people who fall in love in the end is done in this film twice, once in the begging with summer and once in the end with Autumn. One character flaw was Zooey Deschanel’s character, Summer. This helpless romantic, band playing/ singing, dorky girl seemed like the same character she always portrays. For example in Yes Man, a Jim Carry film, she takes Carry on a trance while she serenades him with her indie-style music. What I did like was how non-typical the characters actions where to a typical romantic comedy. Summer tells Tom she doesn’t like to commit, while in the end she does just that. I admire the harsh and edge the characters bring to the film. The technique of telling the story through a calendar is also a unique quality to the film. The gaps in time are used with the calendar for flashbacks and flash-forwards, giving the audience a better understanding for when the breakup occurs and when the couple is together. The director cleverly places scenes where Tom goes through daily life in a relationship with summer, and later shows the exact same situation, but with Tom as a broken hearted and bitter character.
I think that I am the only one to not like this movie. Everyone I have ever talked to, absolutely loved this movie. I think that for me, I didn't like it for several reasons. The first of this being that its lack of chronological order.
While this does not make it impossible to follow, it does complicate the watching process. One must constantly remember every detail that has happened thus far up to that date. Whereas a normal movie will follow chronological order so you know that everything that has happened has happened in the "past" in comparison to what is happening on screen. The jumping around forces the viewer to see things that have not happened yet to the character's "present time". While this is an excellent use of dramatic irony, it is not best for story telling.
In addition, for me, I don't like knowing the end before I get there. Knowing from the beginning, that the two of them will not make it, you are basically watching the destruction. You do not have any hope for the relationship since you know it will end. I think that when you take away hope, you have destroyed a large part the enjoyment of watching a movie.
After 500 days, do you still believe that love is a fate? Love is not a passive waiting, but active pursuit, which is (500 days of Summer) an abnormal love story's real main topic. Personally, 500 days of summer makes the audience’s emotion consonantly. The whole film does not have a rapidly sharp up and down story line, but it has a complicate emotion with sweet and sour loving feelings. The director uses a lot contrast shooting skills, using an active role with a passive contrasted personality, or using nonlinear time conversions. After the first scene is in the past, the second one jumps to the future. It makes Tom's attitude change between the love and broken-up. I also like the image segmentation which shows the expectation and disappointment in real. Once the audience has a gap between idealistic scenes and the reality, the movie gives the audience more emotional outbursts. All the story line start from the Tom's mentality, in the meanwhile, audience could not know what is Summer thinking. But I gradually find the rear part, director use The Graduate showing the Summer's love value. Film in film is really good idea emphasizing that "love is only impulse and passion, whatever how deep you love a people, you should have to face the reality" Finally, Summer has tears in the face, she finds what is her really wants, which is the stable life not passion with love. Tom does not find this way, and he is thinking how to love. He does not know what is she really wants. In fact, he has been afraid to catch up himself things, such as to be an architect. Anyway, every film should give us a positive side, as 500 day end, we could find Tom find the different girl Autumn. Maybe love is a fate in our life, but it could be ten million per one chance. Do not expect passive waiting, but active measures. It's the best the way to find a love story.
500 Days of Summer will always be a favorite movie of mine. From the epic soundtrack to the creative portrayal of Summer and Tom's relationship, everything about this film never fails to draw me in. The film depicts-- in a very unconventional fashion-- the rise and fall of Tom's unbearable infatuation of his coworker, Summer. The film begins towards the end of the relationship, where we see Tom breaking dishes out of pure anger from what Summer has done to him. This lets the audience know where the relationship is headed, without giving away specifics. The film does a fantastic job with contrasting the ups and downs of the relationship. One scene shows Tom and Summer browsing around in Ikea. Tom makes a joke about the sink not working, and Summer is unamused. The next scene shows Tom and Summer enthusiastically playing "house" in Ikea: pretending to cook dinner, watch TV, lay in a bed, etc. Another very interesting contrast would be Tom's musical number right after he sleeps with Summer. The scene shows Tom performing a choreographed dance to Hall & Oats with random people on the street, complete with acrobatic tricks and cartoon birds. After his dance, Tom enters the elevator with a huge grin plastered across his face. The next scene opens with Tom getting off an elevator looking disheveled and downright depressed. The story of 500 Days of Summer and how it is portrayed throughout the film, is unlike any movie I have seen and will always be considered a personal favorite of mine.
The first time I saw this movie was for this class. I have some friends who are obsessed with this movie but I have some others who hate it. So, the first time I saw it I didn’t know what to expect exactly. I really liked it. This movie is definitely an un-romantic romantic comedy. This is one of the few movies (before the trend started with Friends with Benefits, No Strings Attached, What Happens in Vegas...) where the gender characters stereotypes have been reverse. The guy is the one who is trying and struggling really hard to fight for a relationship with the main female character. Sex is taken more casually than before, and sex scenes have a comedic component. I love the way they edited the scenes together, the sequence it takes even thought it is not in the typical order. I also really liked the complexity of the characters. They are anything but simple. Summer is complicated, strange, smart, but it seems like she doesn’t know what she wants until the last scene of the movie (where she appears) where you figure out that she always knew what she wanted and she couldn’t find it with Tom. Tom is sweet, really and really hopeful, he gets really attached to people really quickly and he really believed in true love.
“ This is not a love story. This is a story about love.” This quote found underneath the title summaries perfectly what (500) Days of Summer is all about. This is not the usual romantic comedy, which leaves me feeling slightly better than I did at the start. With clever use of editing and very innovative approach to a jaded genre, Marc Webb manages to creative one of my favorite ‘un-romantic’ comedies ever. It was one of those films where nothing was unexpected. For example when Tom Hansen breaks into song and dance to really show the emotion he was feeling. The editing of the film reminded me of Scott Pilgrim Versus vs. the world, there was animation and the film was constantly being taken out of realistic context.
The sporadic shifts in time were something I had not really seen before but was perfectly appropriate in a film like this. I found the way the days were labeled was cleaver and helped you not get lost in constant shifting times.
Lastly this was not a film where everything works out perfectly in the end and they all live happily ever after. Instead he showed a far more realistic love story with modern day problems that were actually believable. In reality a large majority of relationships don’t work out and this was a tribute to them.
The filmmakers of (500) Days of Summer make it easy to be sympathetic with Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and they do a solid job of making the viewer's feelings towards Summer (Zooey Deschanel) vary to align with those of Tom. The scattered nature of the film gives the viewer little glimpses of the lives of these two characters, Tom's 500 days of Summer. The film is very well-made and does a good job of contrasting expectations with reality, early joy contrasted with late sadness. It becomes quite easy to despise Summer for what she does to Tom, something that most romantic comedies, or romances in general, fail at. More than anything, we feel sorry for Tom when we see earlier scenes of him with Summer, because we know what happens to their relationship. (500) Days of Summer seems to connect with people on a fairly personal level; many people can identify a relationship that either they or a friend has experienced that reminds them of the film, making it a more universal movie and increasing its appeal.
I do not typically like romantic comedies. I knew that “500 Days of Summer” was supposedly an “unromantic comedy” so I hoped that maybe I would enjoy it. I didn’t. The film tried much too hard to be an “unromantic” comedy and not a romantic one. All its attempts to be edgy fell flat. It seemed like a film made for people who secretly like romantic comedies but are too ashamed to admit it. This film was “edgy” enough that they could admit to liking it and still keep their pride. Although overall the film did not impress me, one component did. I appreciated the less traditional gender roles. The fact that Tom was pushing for a relationship while Summer was the more ambivalent partner felt realistic. It was one of the few “quirky” aspects of the film that did not feel forced. Unfortunately the other quirky aspects did feel forced. I would have rather watched a romantic comedy comfortable with its genre than one trying too desperately to be cool.
As said in the beginning of the film. This is not a love story. He does not get the girl. There is no love at first sight. She is not "the one". That's what makes this movie so great. It's a romantic comedy without the clichés, and it's blunt about how true love does not exist. This movie is about a girl, but not just any girl. She's the girl that you can't get out of your head but you wish you could. The girl in question is named Summer(Zooey Deschanel). Said girl meets boy. This boy is named Tom(Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and he falls for her in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for him, he loses her just as easily. The movie is told in a completely nonlinear fashion, skipping through various days and phases of his relationship with Summer. But the whole the story is always connected. The way it is pieced together is done very well to the point where you forget it is not told in a linear fashion. One other reason this movie stood out so much was the amazing acting. All the characters seemed like they were real people. I was watching a man flashing back throughout the past few months of his life, I was watching real people interact and was invested in what happened to them. I do have to say that I am a sucker for a romantic comedy. But that is what made this film so great, it was not just a romantic comedy, it was a un-romantic romantic comedy. Watching this film for the first time, it refreshed my love for romantic comedies.
What I really enjoyed about the movie was that it was “not a love story.” It was nice to see a solid, honest movie about the reality of a failed relationship. Most relationships fail, and I enjoyed how it juxtaposed the bitterness after the breakup with the happiness during the relationship. I was also very glad that the movie was open from the beginning about the relationship failing; by removing the drama of not knowing whether or not Tom and Summer will wind up together, it allows the audience to sympathize with Tom and his fragmented memories of the different stages of the relationship. It isn’t a movie about a love story; it’s a movie about a guy remembering his love and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t right for him. That catharsis is something rare in movies; normally someone gets their heart broken and finds solace somewhere else. Most movies aren’t concerned with the more complicated internal struggle that a lot of people go through in the wake of a difficult breakup. I really enjoyed the scene where Tom began remembering things we saw earlier in the movie, but with additional context to show how Summer wasn’t as perfect as he was remembering earlier. Anyone who has been in a long relationship has probably had to go through a similar process of remembering what really happened rather than just the best parts that they’ve now lost. While I did think that Tom meeting Autumn at the end was too contrived and fairy-tale romantic, it was not enough to ruin the overall strength of the movie.
500 days of summer is a movie about the intense relationship, or rather the friendship, between Tom and Summer and is being told through 500 days where there are good moments but unfortunately, more bad ones for their relationship. What interested me the most were all the original aspects of the movie. The calendar, which shows which of the 500 days the current scenes portrayed, helped the audience keep track on where in the movie we were. You don’t have to think and be confused that much, even though the movie is moving back and forth in time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is thus a movie en the same genre however it differs to 500 days of summer as the story confuses the audience. Moreover, there are different sequences in 500 days of summer that is made in a very impressive way, often to emphasize Toms feelings. I also believe the actors’ do a good job throughout the movie. The main character Tom, played by Joseph Gordon – Levitt, is especially impressive as he is portrayed successfully as happy, angry, sad and insecure. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer, and she also is playing well as the director wants to portray her as what Tom calls her “a unique girl”. Another thing I like about the movie that even though is a classic love story movie, it is occasionally very funny, and there is a few times the awkward moments really make you laugh. All in all a sad story, however a good movie and I would recommend others to see it.
Expectations My expectations of 500 Days of Summer when I saw the scene with Summer and Tom on the bench was that the movie would be about how they met and got married. Despite the narrator saying that this was not a love story, I thought it would be anyway. I'm glad that the movie ended differently than I expected. Even though this wasn't the typical boy-meets-girl and they fall in love story, it was still a love story nontheless. 500 Days of Summer was a different kind of love story. It was more realistic because many people can relate with falling in love with the wrong person and the heart break associated with it.
Playing with Genre I think that this movie did a good job of mixing the romance with comedy. It wasn't too comical or too romantic to the point where it was corny. The movie had its funny moments like when Tom would go to his younger sister for advice. Usually the female lead would be the one heart broken and asking her friends for advice, so that made it funny. When I first heard that this movie was an unromantic romantic comedy, I didn't understand how something could and couldn't be at the same time. I thought that maybe it was just a comedy since the romance seemded to cancel each other out. After seeing the movie, I understand that the movie is unromantic because it wasn't a typical love story being told and romantic on Tom's part because he wanted so badly to be in a relationship and to be loved by Summer.
Other Thoughts I felt really bad for Tom. I know that Summer made it clear that she did not want a boyfriend, but she should have known that Tom's feeling for her would grow deeper the more they spend time with each other. If she did want something serious with Tom then she should have never stepped beyond the boundary of friendship. She was wrong to play with Tom's heart like that. I was glad to see that he met a new love interest toward the end of the movie.
500 Days of Summer showed the mysteries of love and romantic chemistry between a guy and a girl. I liked how Tom and Summer's relationship was not like the usual ones we are use to. The film showed their good and bad days, what went wrong, and how they could have worked everything out. Another unique thing about the film was the way it was structured, which gave way for a funny interplay on the good and the bad of relationships, and the deconstruction of how love grows. I'm use to film narratives about relationships coming from a female, but it was nice to hear it from a guy. It was also kind of funny how the next girl Tom had a date with was named after one of the seasons as well. Although Tom and Summer did not end up together in the end, they both learned valuable lessons from each other.500 Days of Summer definitely proved to me that it was not going to be the typical love story.
Even though 500 Days of Summer is not necessarily a love story, it definitely has a lot to do with love. In the end Tom does not get the girl, Summer but he does end up meeting Autumn. I have seen this movie several times and each time I see it I seem to like it more. It's probably the witty jokes throughout the movie that does it. I also really enjoyed how the movie does not go day by day, instead the director chose to skip around to random days but that in turn makes the movie more enjoyable. The reversal of the typical role males and females play in romantic comedies is also interesting. Tom really tries to keep the relationship intact and does almost anything while Summer does not really know what she wants until the end when you find out that she is marrying someone else. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone especially fans of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt because they both do a great job in this movie.
I find the snarkiness of the introduction to the film incredibly comical - the author’s note to the audience saying that the story is not based on real life or any specific person, and then they explicitly acknowledging Jenny Beckman as a ‘Bitch.’ The narrator explaining that, although 500 Days of Summer may seem like a normal romantic movie of “boy meets girl,” it is not true and warns us that “this is not a love story.” I think this is refreshing because it does not give the entire plot away, but it lets the viewer know that they should not expect the conventional events of a romance or relationship. The ending to the film is particularly refreshing because it is unexpected compared to most movies, like the narrator warned us in the beginning. Although it is somewhat depressing, I like that the ending is different because it is more realistic than the typical conclusion and happily ever after crap you see in most movies. I also liked that the order of the film was out of sequence. The art between scenes with the tree changing seasons (depending on Tom’s mood) and what day (in parenthesis) representing Tom and Summer’s relationship was also an interesting way to express time.
There was a certain point of time, where all of a sudden, experimental romantic movies started to stand on the center of movie era stage. This one, however, is a little bit different. Romantic movies targeting youth segments usually tend to have their main characters, especially girl characters, in the shape of what people always say “tough appearance but sweet core”. Summer, however, is not. Summer, she is the horrible female who owns the angle’s beauty but actually cares nothing about others. At the very beginning of 500 days of summer, there was a subtitle showing up “especially for u ,jen beckham. Bitch.” It is said that the whole movie is based on the movie director’s personal experience. Obviously, this guy is not over her yet. At least he was not when directing the movie. The ending scene of Tom’s meeting a potential new date Autumn could be a faulty stroke in this whole painting; but once relating it to the director’s personal story, it appeals to be such a cute part. It seems the director was indicating, summer left and autumn came, yea I was miserable about you but you are just nothing more important than the seasons passing by me. It is only 500 days since I fell for you to I started to hate you and now I am finally over you. Just 500 days, not a big deal. Be the subject material for my movie for my works, and good bye.
500 Days of Summer is classified as a romantic comedy. But the movie’s narration starts off by saying that this movie is not a love story. The narration says this because Summer is never truly in a romantic relationship while Tom is desperately in love. It’s Tom’s dedication and love for Summer that turns the movie into the romance it is.
The structure of the movie is non-chronologic. It starts off with a count down (500 days) and skips back and fourth between the beginning, end and middle of the relationship. The director, Marc Webb, does an excellent job telling Tom and Summer’s story in a non-linear format. This format fits Summer’s mind because she seems to be very indecisive and changes her mind constantly. Also, since we already know how the movie is going to end (with the end of the relationship) we share, since the beginning sympathy with the main character Tom.
The transitions between time is very interesting. Not only do they skip around back and forth, but they also skip back and forth between the same location and setting only at different times. For example, there is the scene of Tom entering the elevator super happy, then, with the change of time, in the next scene he enters it sad and hopeless. Also, when the text of how many days in the relationship has passed appears, the setting and coloring in the background fit the mood and feelings of the characters.
Many who watch this movie leave it saying it has a depressing ending. I left the movie not thinking it was sad at all. Summer did tell Tom since the beginning that she did not want a serious relationship and I think he should have understood. Also, the movie ends with Tom meeting a new lady who agrees to have lunch with him—therefore a happy ending.
Marc Pollack C10553848 To be honest, one of the movies that I was most unexcited about watching, coming into this year was 500 Days of Summer. After watching this movie, I can say so certain that my opinion has changed dramatically. Sure it is a corky love tale, but it isn’t what I would call a “chick flick”. One of the most interesting parts of this film, is when the director, Marc Webb, played the reality of the situation compared to what Tom expected the situation to be. Another interesting aspect of this film was the attitude in which the two main characters were perceived to have. The roles were almost reversed in the sense that Summer was the laid back one in the relationship who let the answers come to her, as opposed to Tom who was always wanting to go the extra mile, and pushed his feelings for her in such an outlandish way that it almost freaked her out. Usually there should be an even balance within the relationship door that consists of honesty, integrity, and respect. Another interesting point at the film, that I found to be a clever idea by the writers, is how at the vey end, Tom finds a new woman that he may want to begin a relationship has the name of Autumn. Overall, as quirky as the movie is, I would absolutely recommend it.
500 Days of Summer To be honest I was very disappointed when I heard we were going to be watching this move in class. It is an “un” romantic comedy and I have always seen these as extremely boring, cliché, and too “lovey”. 500 days of summer was no different. The genre expectation made me think that Tom and Summer were going to end up together in the end. (Like every romantic comedy). The beginning story line and how they both did not know what they wanted in a relationship is typical in a romantic comedy and more grounds for my prediction of it being no different than any other romantic comedy. I was surprised to find out in the end that my prediction was wrong though. Tom ends up meeting another girl, Autumn and his ex-lover Summer gets a husband before this. This changed the movie completely in my opinion as it made it unique and in a way, more realistic. This made the film better but all in all I still did not enjoy it very much. I felt that there were a couple weird and unnecessary scenes such as the IKEA scene where Summer and Tom pretended they were married (false foreshadowing-kind of cruel!). That scene particularly was unnecessary especially if in the end, they did not end up together. Although I still did not like the film overall, it was better than other “normal” romantic comedies. Erik Rueckle-c10166645
The movie "500 Days of Summer" was really interesting romantic movie. Usually, romantic movie has typical story; someone fall in love, get trouble with, conquer conflict and love again. However, "500 Days of Summer" has different procedure and conclusion compared with other typical romantic movies such as "50 First Date." At the end, main couple in the movie breaks up each other and goes back to their own lives. Such conclusion was fresh but a little bit uncomfortable for me. While watching this movie, I was really happy and envious for main characters’ relationship. Before ending, I really hoped that they married like typical romantic movie. However, they were just broke up and that was the end. After ending, I became sad and dejected. Maybe, this kind of ending could be good for film critics to evaluate but horrible for audience to accept conclusion. Not just untypical ending, but the progress of story was also interesting. A lot of movies usually tell stories in forward way. For instance, they tell the first day of movie at first time and last day at the end. However, 500 days of summer has abnormal story structure. In this movie, it showed last day of this movie at beginning part. It started story with showing the part when main couple already broke up at conclusion and changed to the scene of first day when they met each other. Such progress sometimes made me confuse to figure out what story is going on in the movie.
The movie 500 Days of Summer, I think is a distinct film most of all because of the end they don’t end together, the contrary they end making their own life apart, in most of the romantic comedies the ends tend to be a happy-together ending. I thing that the main theme where the movie enrolls is around urban places, for example when Summer showed Toms her favorite place in the city, that was like a park where you had an amazing view (architecture), also the scenes are develop around work, for example the scene when Tom saw Summer in the office for first time. During the film there are a lot of couple conflicts, but since my point of view Tom always plays the part of victim, for example when they break up and Tom sister calmed him down, or also when he saws Summer again with engagement ring and he got into an even heavier depression. Also I think that the style of this movie isn’t a romantic comedy, I think the whole film is a blend of romantic comedy, a style of documentary, plus narrative. Also is very interesting how the Author worked with the names of the characters, is really intriguing how Tom meets Autumn, that means fall, which is the next season after Summer. So here you can see how the Author plays with the names, showing that Tom is going to move on with this girl that follows Summer.
500 Days of Summer is romantic comedy about the main character, Tom, who falls crazy in love for a woman who doesn't believe in love. Although it is a romantic comedy, it is not a love story, and that is said at the beginning of the movie. Summer attracted the attention of every man, and for Tom, it was love at first sight. Tom felt that Summer was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Although Summer did not believe in relationships and love. I feel shame for Tom that he ended up being in love alone and Summer did not demonstrated nothing. This was very hard on him because you could see how he suffered a lot. Also, it was very easy for Summer to keep on going when she broke up with Tom and he could not find any one who can replace her until the end but it was not clear. It was funny that the person who gave him advise was his little sister.
I really enjoyed this movie so much because the fact that it wasn't a typical movie where the main characters end up together. I would never imagine that Summer will up ended marrying another guy. Also, the ironic part where Tom at the end met another girl named "Autumn" which is another season of the year. This was supposedly meaning that he finally got over Summer.
This was a great movie and was a lot of fun. Very clever and artful. Normally I am not one for artsy movies that do not fit the traditional romantic comedy to a "T", however, this movie does an exceptional job. I enjoyed the non-conformality of the plot line. You believe you know how the movie will play out and end, yet the movie flips the script and shocks you almost. A cute movie that is delightful to watch from beginning to end. Even the sadder scenes still keep you engaged and wanting to view more. The musical content in the movie was also a pleasure and complimented the film quite nicely in my opinion. The unconventional pieces of the film were wonderful to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
I think that I must be the only person on the planet who does not like this movie. This impression comes from the fact that when I bring up "500 days of summer" among friends all seem to universally swoon and start talking about how wonderful this movie is. For me, I found it to be annoying at best. I felt that the jumps from happiness to frustration and sadness were not "cute and quirky" but bi-polar-esk. I think that I also found the "lie" that we are led to believe that Tom and Summer will be united in the end was a disappointment. While not every romantic comedy has to end with them together to be a good movie (e.g. The Breakup), I think that leading the audience to believe this will happen only leads to a disappointing ending where it doesn't happen.
To be fair, there were moments of "500 days of Summer" in which I did enjoy. The scene where Tom is dancing and singing in the street was enjoyable (although felt out of place with the rest of the movie).
The movie 500 Days of Summer was all about reversing common roles and breaking social norms. For example they switched the common role of the emotionally distant male to having the emotional distant female character. Also there is the fact that they made a romantic comedy that is neither a love story nor is it funny in some scenes. They intentionally put in some scenes that were sad and distinctively not intended to be funny. Another way that they defy the norms is by not telling the story in chronological order. Instead it shows the story one day at a time and not in order, announcing the number of the day at the beginning of each day. The biggest shot they take at the common romantic comedy is that in the end it is the emotionally cold character that is right. In this movie the cold character, ironically named Summer, tells Tom that she doesn’t want an emotional relationship so when he expects one from her, he is wrong. Even more ironically after their terrible break up, Summer falls in real love with another person and ends her role in the movie by telling Tom that someday he’ll find the true love of his life. However they do end the movie with a comedic moment where Tom meets another girl and decides to give it another chance. The comedy is that the girl’s name is Autumn and the movie ends by saying Autumn day 1.
I think this movie is about just silly love story, but it is a very realistic fatalism movie. Especially, I like the summer’s mind at the first sight which is ‘ I want to live for me not to be one of someone cause we are young.’ However, Tom believes the destiny of love and summer is the girl whom he is doomed to love. Summer think tom as the boy who just passes in her life and takes a small part in her life but, she does her best to love Tom and be faithful to every moment when they love. In the end she married other man and Tom met autumn who has very similar taste and personality with tom. It was very shocking ending because I believed summer and tom will be good in the whole time of movie. Also I liked the music in the movie and the scene was very beautiful. It was very beautiful movie although it taught me the sadness of love
I initially expected this film to be another boring and uninteresting romantic comedy that had generally the same plot as other movies in this genre that I’ve seen. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this refreshing new take on the stereotypical romantic comedy. Typically these types of movies are way too predictable and always tend to have the same plot. Where two people meet, are immediately attracted to each other, than there is conflict in their relationship, and than finally there is a final resolution where they get back together. Whereas in 500 days of summer, they explicitly state in the beginning of the movie that “this is not a love story.” It’s also a warped version of this genre because the Tom character is deeply in love with Summer but she doesn’t want a serious relationship. Although Summer has a fling with him for a good amount of time, the relationship turns sour because she simply loses any type of feelings for him. She also takes the audience and Tom by complete surprise when she marries another man after there breakup. This is not the usual plot for any movie of this genre , which makes it very appealing to me. It also recreates genre expectations because it applies more to reality where sometimes relationships don’t always have a happy ending because there are just too many problems to cope with. This seems like more of a documentary of how most relationships with a potential love interest work out in real life. It was also interesting to me to see the different points in there relationship showing you the high and low points. All these parts in the movie have high emotions with no outcome, which is against the tradition romantic comedy genre.
500 Days of summer is one of my favorite movies. It is witty, the setting is beautiful, and the characters are type of characters we can fall in love with these days. Since the movie is centered on an important relationship, I think the majority of the audience can become identified with it and become even fonder of the movie. The main character is so charismatic that the audience wants to continue getting to know him. He is charming, sweet and funny, and the girlfriend is the one that is perceived as the strange one. I also liked how the director incorporated his interest in architecture, which would come up every so often. This is definitely the type of movie that I would watch numerous times, and in actuality, I have. Each time I have seen it, I have found a new joke or new scene that quickly becomes my favorite. I also think it was a great idea regarding the fact that it ended in an optimistic tone. If it had been pessimistic, it would be too heartbreaking. The end does not say much, just that he meets summer, the applicant at the architectural firm. Even though it does not say much, it still makes the audience happy that there is a change and a new outlet on life.
"And Sally's 500 day" is actually a kind of analysis of love to do. So, "and Sally's 500 day" the story of the original conception, is in a state of anxiety and sadness began, Scott · noe of tut was the failure by love, become the final content-although noe of foundation was from heartbreak in slowly is tut recovery, but webb has been operating for a long courtship. Together they carefully think back to love may or should be some shape, but sometimes, somehow, reality and imagination is often has the very big in and out, so noe of tut and webber couldn't help but think; to know, in such a physical world, is also a love supreme remaining young man? The love of idealistic version, how to display the out, can have not seen before from the realistic? So Tom the role immediately was born, he of the power of love and mysterious place, has a crazy, enthusiastic and no justification worship than the woman also goes beyond the goddess of love-and Tom with Sally's form in the this movie, he is total to her crush, but Sally mo but ever-present denied Tom believe everything. But the two writers Scott · noe of us; and Michael H weber interested can not only only is Tom this man, also including exists in his memory heart activity, especially when he reviewed his and Elizabeth between the real everything that happened, very has the dreamy color.
A small-budget independent film, but exciting enough the film will make you laugh, break your heart. because they simply can not meet each other's emotional needs. Tom did not self-confident, he learned profession isbuilt, but the status quo, greeting card design; emotionally hesitant to need a buddy to help him to convey his own mind; bar end of the party, in the face of Summer asked , he was afraid and did not dare to declare, just watched each other and walked away; he metwith her in the copy room, has not stepped forward, the result is the Summer take the initiative to kiss him; Summer room, open to Tom heart about that lonely dreams, which marks the gap between the two have completely disappeared, Summer him into their hearts, but he was at a loss, tangle afraid of doubt, do not dare to step forward. When they meet again, Tom, in conversation and Summer has finally solved the knot, all relieved. There are small details in the film, Summer take the initiative to just hold Tom's hand, which is a hint of the feelings of very deep changes in the lens of Tom'sface, he certainly knows this implies that, if he wants to Summer can become a lover, but also have good times as in the past, but he did not he start to finish is very indifferent.Summer understanding after they got up to leave, when Tom stood up and Summermake good wishes and hope she will happy. At this point, the story of two peoplepainting on to a successful conclusion, always be the friend of the parallel line.
500 Days of Summer is one of those romantic comedy movies that goes against most of the love story movies that are out there right now. Instead of being sappy and unrealistic, this movie really portrays what happens in most relationships. The couple goes through fights and make ups and eventually ends up breaking up. Instead of being like the romantic comedy of "The Ugly Truth", this movie reminded me more of the romantic comedy movie of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". This reminds me of 500 days of summer because both movies follow the couple through their break up and how they are constantly fighting but has the strong underlying theme of how love conquers all and it greatly discusses what love is and how it affects society. The movie had many funny moments and talked about love so it can fall into the genre of romantic comedy even though it clearly states it is not like most romantic comedy movies. Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot and would definitely recommend it and even watch it again.
“It’s not a romantic story, but at the same time it is”. The movie 500 days of summer is unique because it is the type of movie that you watch and you expect something obvious to happen and all of the sudden it doesn’t. As a matter a fact in this movie the papers switch, when the girl is usually the one tying to make it happen this time it’s the boy. My favorite movies are like these. It has good actors, and I identify myself with Summer (Zooey Deschanel). I’m in a point of my life where I don’t believe a lot in love and I am very independent and minding my own business always, but I still have my romantic side that I shared with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I somehow relate this movie with The Tourist because the director did trick the audience with the scenes making them believe one thing and ending up on a whole different thing. Even though they are two completely different stories I got involved equally in both. Tom’s scenes are like my mind functions, its broken into pieces and I just think back and forward, I loved the nonlinear story, it made it more interesting. It was the first time I’ve seen this movie and I’ve always heard about it. The scenes fitted perfectly with every situation and the music fascinated me. One of my favorites songs played Quelqu'un m'a dit from Carla Bruni.
I did not like this movie, in fact i had tried watching this movie about 3 or 4 times before the class screening and never got passed 15 minutes of it. i couldn't. i was way too bored. yet at the class screening i forced myself to stay and the movie did get better, more interesting and even funny. see its not a love story, i loved that summer married another man because it is not typical romantic comedy, its more realistic and films need this. i thought the director did a good job with this movie and made it much better than i expected.
If I had to list my favorite types of films romantic comedies would not be very high up on the list all. Having said that I do think that “500 Days of Summer” is definitely one of the better ones to come out in the past few years. I think what I liked most about the film is that it goes against the one-dimensional traditional direction of a romantic comedy by creating a relationship between Tom and Summer that was able to be perceived by audiences as realistic and authentic. Often times in romantic comedies the romance between the two lead characters is too much of a fairy tale to actual exist in society, but this film does a great job of creating a relationship that sadly anyone who has been in love can directly relate to. Webb accented the growth of Tom as a character by using a non-chronological structure for the film. The structure also allowed the viewer to experience the ups and downs throughout the film. I was also very impressed with the acting in the film and I think Zooey Deschanel was particularly impressive in role as Summer. After seeing the film I cant imagine anyone else in her role, she really made it her own
Even though at the beginning the narrator tells you this is not a love story, you still don’t quite know what to expect. Very few romantic comedies are able to nicely blend comedic and emotional strength into an interesting movie, but somehow this film manages to pull it off. While typical movies of this genre follow a standard formula, ending with a break up and then the couple getting back together, this one was willing to explore a relationship that didn’t work out in the end. It was a clever change of pace from other romantic comedies. It was interesting to see the male lead Tom as the more feminine type, while Summer was definitely the more masculine of the two. It was cool how story was not told in a chronological order. When Tom is looking back on the relationship trying to determine what went wrong, the film jumped between different days and showing the drastic changes in feelings that Summer had towards Tom and vice-versa. The use of color I felt added greatly to those scenes of great emotion. When Tom and Summer were feeling good about their relationship there are bright a vibrant colors surrounding them. When they’re not, then everything is gray and gloomy. The director really knew what he was doing when directing these characters. The casting of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt I believe is what made the film go from good to great. Their chemistry was perfect and I’m not sure if these characters could have been played better by any other actors. I would highly recommend 500 Days of Summer to anybody looking for a different spin on romantic comedies.
The boys think that is a thing called fate. An emotion can be described as love. One encounter is meant to be.So when Tom saw the Summer, he genuineness of told myself, this person is the love of their life.Silly nostalgia eyes to follow her shadow. His anxious speculations her every phrase. He can not extricate themselves occupied.So everything about her is beautiful.The black hair Think before you speak sip mouth. Chest, heart-shaped birthmark. Laugh giggle voice. A deep sleep from the look of the past.Even all the landscape are subjective given the bright colors.The world no longer exist, only you.
The girls never believe in the fairy tale about love. Everything is just unreal feeling. Nothing is fate. Nothing can be described to true love. One encounter is meant to be. The relationship of meaning just have fun,. Nothing more. So when they are inside the Ikea fun slapstick, she will tell him, well ... I do not Hoo, hoo, the get into something serious ... is that the ok? Tom bitter laugh, but quickly said sure. Because he or illusions, the day Summer heart wall finally collapsed. Only because of their own. So when Summer brought him to their own space, he was naive to think that finally the wall crack a silent. So when Summer told him the I have never told anyone else before, he is almost 100% sure, in their heart to the same status exists.
However, the fantasy, after all is an illusion.
Tom: I just Hoo, hoo, know .... what are we? Summer: I don't know .... well I don't care. I'm happy, aren't you happy? Tom: ... yea .. I am happy.
After 300 days, anxiety finally become strong.
No longer sink joke and laugh. No longer like the same singer and joy. The game no longer unbridled swearing. So she's all become repulsive. Black hair. Think before you speak sip mouth. Chest, heart-shaped birthmark. Laugh giggle voice. A deep sleep from the look of the past.
Finally broke up. For unknown reasons. This period is identified as a doomed romance, and finally painful, unbearable, and the end. However, the story does not end.
500 days, they met again. The boys finally realized that the original really is fate. Nothing can be described to true love. One encounter is meant to be. The girls suddenly realize, in fact, there is a thing called fate. An emotion can be described as love. One encounter is meant to be. How ironic. The same period of romance, and allows two people took a very different way. Tom painted the ideal building design on the blackboard. Summer wear someone else fed to the ring.
In fact, why bother to pursue is not fate, to true love, or meant to be. Or that in fact people are so naive creatures. When immersing himself in love, will firmly believe that their feelings are very real and very firm, very durable. But once broken, will be discouraged, a moment think that the description should be all about love die. In fact, everything lies only in yourself. We really love our own. So the final analysis, the attitude of the love only for self-comfort. I love you so it must be true love will be able to adhere to a long time will be able to repel all difficulties. Now I do not love you so love, in fact, a lie can not have anything forever. The next time, it is possible that we will very unpromising back to the conference The mindset of the previous.
Do not have the romance as the end of the world busted their ass and the shouting is this person in addition to this I'll never fall in love with other people. When Summer is gone, Autumn is here.
500 Days of Summer is not the typical romantic comedy. At the beginning of the film the narrator warns the audience by telling us that it is not the typical love story and that the characters will not end up together. Even though I had been warned, while I was watching the movie I still wanted them to end up together and was hopeful that they would. Overall, I liked the movie. It didn’t follow genre expectations but it offered a fresh, new perspective of the genre. The “boy meets girl” formula was included but the way they met and started having their romance was not the typical way. It seemed like the girl was stronger and more in control rather than the boy being the strong personality. The roles were reversed. The girl, Summer, was the insensitive one and the boy, Tom, was the sensitive one when usually it is the other way around. Also, some settings were not usual. For example, they went to Ikea and acted as if they were in their house. Usually, romantic comedies use settings such as the beach and places that are more romantic than Ikea. The editing was also very different. There was a narrator and the plot moved between the past and the present. I thought this type of editing made it more entertaining. In the end, I was happy that it was not the typical love story. I liked that 500 Days of Summer was more realistic. It wasn’t a love story but at the same time it was because it is something that could happen to anyone.
500 Days of Summer was not a typical romantic movie like I expected. It’s about love, but it displays how love is not always easy or perfect. I liked this movie because it’s not like every other romantic movie where you watch a couple fall in love and ends happily ever after. It follows Tom as he goes falls in love with Summer, tries to capture her love, and then breaks up and finally moves on, but not in that order. I liked how the scenes were out of order, I think it made the movie more interesting to watch. I also thought it was a good change that the male in the movie Tom was the hopeless romantic falling in love and the female Summer was the one that did not care for love. It’s clever that Tom falls in love with Summer, and once he realizes she’s not in love with him and will never be, he finds his true love named Autumn. Although in the end the relationship between Tom and Summer did not work out, it helped them each find true love, because it taught Summer to love for the first time and taught Tom to stop chasing the wrong woman and led him to Autumn.
500 Days of Summer is by far my favorite romantic comedy that I have seen. One of the main reasons for this was that it deviated from the typical format of a romantic comedy, which seems to literally be the same for every movie. Usually these movies involve a guy falling for a girl, them becoming romantically involved, some conflict splitting them apart, and them getting back together in the end. 500 days of Summer completely ignored this format, even just with the basic way it told the story. The movie jumped around many of the different days (500 of them) of Summer and Tom’s relationship. This kept the movie fresh and interesting and made the characters seem more real, as you were getting very different sides to each character at different points in the relationship. Also, it was really bold and different that things did not work out for them in the end, which is something you never see in romantic comedies. This was just another element that gave the movie a more realistic feel in the end, and it allowed it to be both funny and heartfelt at different times, while never seeming overly perfect. Overall it made the movie infinitely more enjoyable for me than any other romantic comedy I have seen.
I am glad I got the opportunity to watch 500 Days of Summer since I wanted to see it when it was airing trailers but never really took the time to go see it. However I am not as happy as I thought I was going to be after seeing it. I am glad they made a nice twist and got rid of the expected romantic movie that was shown in the trailer (almost right away with the opening line). Still, they synched so well together sometimes they seemed like they should have been together. This romantic comedy I think put more of a focus on the romance (even though it didnt work out) making the comedy part sort of inappropriate. Still I appreciate the story taking the license to be different and it resulted in a nice, although sometimes very boring, movie.
500 Days of Summer is a wonderfully fun and humorous film, all the while being sad at times. It turns the table of almost every romantic comedy you have ever seen and the male Tom is the one that is falling head over heels for the girl Summer. I believe this adds to the popularity of the film, as a male if I hear the word romantic comedy I am immediately turned off. But I believe the twist on the classic romantic comedy formula is what makes it appealing.
What first caught my eye was in the very beginning of the film when a caution is issued that this is not a love story. Unfortunately this is very true; it is unfortunate because I felt for the character Tom and how his relationship with Summer did not pan out as he wanted. This sad tone is offset by humor, which adds another dimension to the film.
Another aspect that made this film unique was that it was not sequential, as you watched the film you knew Tom was doomed before he was which made it quite a sad affair. On second thought I don’t think this is a romantic comedy at all, that is a cruel classification.
500 Days of Summer is a wonderfully fun and humorous film, all the while being sad at times. It turns the table of almost every romantic comedy you have ever seen and the male Tom is the one that is falling head over heels for the girl Summer. I believe this adds to the popularity of the film, as a male if I hear the word romantic comedy I am immediately turned off. But I believe the twist on the classic romantic comedy formula is what makes it appealing.
What first caught my eye was in the very beginning of the film when a caution is issued that this is not a love story. Unfortunately this is very true; it is unfortunate because I felt for the character Tom and how his relationship with Summer did not pan out as he wanted. This sad tone is offset by humor, which adds another dimension to the film.
Another aspect that made this film unique was that it was not sequential, as you watched the film you knew Tom was doomed before he was which made it quite a sad affair. On second thought I don’t think this is a romantic comedy at all, that is a cruel classification.
This movie was hilarious! Very light hearted and enjoyable. I laughed uncontrollably when she asks if they need anything and Tom replies "I think you know what I need" in a very non-smooth tone of voice, and then follows up with "toner" after she looks at him like he's a freak. I think this movie works because many people can identify with the characters of Tom and Summer. I have to say, the movie does have many cheesy points, but it didn't interfere too severely with my viewing experience. When he gets laid and suddenly his reflection looks like Han Solo makes up for the cheesy moments. The non-linear structure of the movie's form allowed for very interesting cuts. in one cut Tom would be happy and suddenly the next jumps to several days later and he is miserable. It was also fun imagining I was watching a prequel to Inception and the Avengers. They do some very interesting things with the shots that are in black and white and the way they are arranged as well as with split screen shots. In this film they often gear towards very vulgar jokes which is basically what made it good for me. The acting, i thought, was very good in this movie. It was very easy to get lost in the characters and not think too much about acting method. It also has nice commentary on love and coincidences.
500 Days of Summer Matthew Head I disliked this movie, I did not like the non linear structure. I feel that this was the biggest downturn to this movie apart from it not being funny. I dont think that romantic comedies should try and entertain the audience through editing. Personally I think that this movie was trying to hard. I think that people go to see romantic comedies to be easily entertained. I don't like that this movie is slightly more realistic than other romantic movies. These movies are supposed to be like a fairy tale and entrance the audience into believing something that could never happen.
500 Days of Summer" is a small independent movie, but exciting enough the film will make you laugh, break your heart, make you thoughtful. Many people say that this is a cure for romance movies, but deep romance and find themselves unable to have seen the movie brought back painful memories, the film is more suitable for those who walked romance, know how to put down people. A beautiful woman as the core of the whole movie seems to be a used up the plot, but Mark Webb gained a lot of new ideas. The film interspersed by scattered clues, tells a story about the girlfriend to get rid of the men how to recall the past time. Tang Mu Hansen to write greeting cards a young man, full of whimsy, hope to get the love life. Summer Finn is a beautiful wild creature, like an independent, and do not want to be bound by any people's feelings. A lot of people will spend the encounter of two people know each other as predestined fate convinced. The dictates of fate, the hero and heroine meet, Tom saw the Summer first moment she is the love of his life, and she appeared languid glow of infinite vitality. When the men encountered the Italian woman, the eyes would not leave her, he always concerned about, fascinated.
In love who is wrong, does not provide for how to pay, whether or not to be rewarded. We should not define whether true love of others, whether it is worth, but among the living in love, they want to know how to cherish, learn to take the initiative, regardless of when, do not decide, share sweet will slip away from us. Remember: Love is to promote self and others more mature, and a willingness to self-improvement.
From great novels to video games, there is an increasing amount of non-linear story lines being utilized. Not only do they generate interest from the audience, but they are simply different than the normal ways to that stories are told. 500 Days of Summer, a film about romance, focuses on the relationship between the protagonist, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Summer Finn, Zooey Deschanel. The film successfully utilizes a non-linear storyline in order to better convey the current life situation of Tom Hansen, the protagonist.
A non-linear story structure applied to film is undoubtedly effective due to the fact that it resembles how the human brain functions. When one tells a story to another, it is common to jump forward to certain events and then jump back once one remembers all the details of the story. This occurs not just in story telling, but also generally within human memory. Humans often have flashbacks to past events and their recollection of the event may be disfigured and out of order. In 500 Days of Summer, the audience is taken through a non-linear narrated story in which the audience visits different times during the relationship of Tom and Summer. By the structure of the film being closely similar to how the mind functions, the audience reflects upon their own past and thinks about their own relationships which ultimately generates an emotional connection between the audience and Tom.
I’m usually not a big fan of romantic comedies, but 500 Days of Summer was quite entertaining. Instead of being in standard form, with a clear beginning, middle and end, it rather was a non-linear narrative, meaning the movie was full of going back and forth. Nonetheless, this style was used effectively so as not to confuse the viewer. The director also implemented other unconventional aspects such as black and white and split screen. I also thought that the soundtrack fit the tone of the film perfectly, with every song matching the mood of what was happening on screen. Indeed, 500 Days of Summer is primarily about all the ins and outs of a modern, 21st century young relationship. However, what makes it stand out is the fact that the two main characters do not act like their typical gender roles are supposed to. The guy acts like what the usual female is supposed to be, and the leading female actress acts like what the typical male is supposed to be.
500 days of summer is an offbeat romantic comedy. It is about a young man who falls for a girl who does not believe in the existence of true love. Mark Webb is the director of 500 days of summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zoey Deschanel. Tom (Gordon Levitt) earns his living through writing for greeting cards- being an aspiring architect. His boss employs a new secretary for himself. Upon encountering her, Tom explores how the two of them have very in common, although she seems completely out of his league. The both love the Smiths, and they both are fans of the artist Magritte- as for the starters. Tom is highly infatuated by Summer. All he can think about is her. He praises the belief of soul mates, and he thinks that he has found his. Sadly, Summer isn’t looking for romance since for her, it merely is the stuff of fairy tales. With all his might and courage, Tom convinces Summer that their love is real, and that they are perfect for each other.
A Danish director, Lars Von Trier, directs this movie. His work is playfully profound, such that it will leave you smiling warmly. The Five Obstructions is both an antidote and a variation to these spectacles of abjection and on their themes of cruelty and domination. Lars Von Trier has depicted the sadistic abuse of a defenseless good-hearted woman. Mr. Von Trier was obsessed with the 12-minute film of Jorgan Leth- ‘The Perfect Human’. Portions of this film are in incorporated in the ‘Five Obstructions’. All the actors filmed in black and white against black backgrounds, is a suave, pseudo-scientific examination of human behavior. The movie combines harsh intimacy with jarring theatricality. The movie was remaked by the older director. First place to reshoot the movie was Cuba, second, it was shot in a slum of Mumbai. While watching the movie, it seems like one is watching two chess masters playing dominoes and a series of therapy sessions being spied. The movie is directed in 4 languages being English, Danish, French and Spanish.
The story begins with a boy met his favorite girl, and Tom and Summer which lasted 500 days romance. Story is told by a voice over that slightly ironic, very penetrating but very slow. Summer is a desperate woman for love and do not have any illusions about men. Tom has been living a boring and uninteresting life. Until he encountered a life of true love – Summer, with a hopeless romantic at heart. Here, people will witness a young man to maintain a year and half, unrestrained, unpredictable love the past, but also made the interesting and full of vivid and unique depth analysis . Even in such an overly cynical of modern society, Tom still firmly believes that with all this world there is the kind of fate, splendid love. But he loved Summer, who, however, took a totally negative attitude. Even with completely different views on love, but cannot stop Tom continuing undaunted pursuit of Summer, like a modern version of Don Quixote, has infinite energy and courage. Unfortunately, Summer eventually leaved Tom. When Tom is careful to recall this has to maintain 500 days of "true love". All of a sudden, he realized that he was in love not just a cute, humorous, wise women ... He fell in love with Summer in the reflection of his mind, not an individual, but a wish to understand and read love, still has a touching heart and prevent the world's energy. So Tom, in the 500 days of memories and flashback screen, constantly cruising, looking and searching, wants to get the original appearance of love.
The film is a story of boy meets girl and it most definitely is not a love story. Love is a major factor in 500 Days of Summer; just not in the way you may anticipate, thinking the film a romantic comedy. Instead, the tale shows us how love, or the lack therefore, can effect two young souls, lost and alone in the world. When Tom meets Summer his life is turned around to pure ecstasy and happiness. What he doesn't know that first day is that when she tells him she isn't looking for anything serious, she means it. Tom's journey to salvation or damnation is one through the rough and tumble world of love and he is its punching bag.
Despite this being a story about heartbreak and the love that caused it and that which heals it, there are a lot of laughs to go with the serious drama. What makes that drama hit so hard is not only the fact that the emotions are all laid out raw and unfiltered, but also because of the levity used to temper it all. The tone is set very early as the film begins with a disclaimer cautioning that any resemblances to real life are merely coincidental, even for the girl on whom Summer is based. This little touch, showing the audience how personal the tale is to the writers adds one more layer to its everyman disposition. We are experiencing something we have all seen in real life, whether to us or someone close—the pain of rejection, the confusion of utopia's demise.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie because of its reality. One cant help but love how realistic this love story is, or lack thereof love story. I especially love how it mirrors one side of the screen of what is happening and the other side of the screen of what Tom wanted to happen. Stellar acting !
I enjoyed watching this very much. Its structurally opposite of the standard rom/com genre. It hints at that standard form throughout the film, but never sticks to it. Through watching this film, i got emotionally invested in the characters, and really cared what happened.
Placing the scenes in non sequential order made the film interesting, and gave me an interesting perspective as a view. It really changed how I vied the film, and also helped pull it out of the rom/com genre. I also think tho helped the audience feel more for Tom since we know more about his situation and we know about it for longer.
This was a fantastic movie, and I enjoyed the acting, and the storyline very much.
This movie is like the boy version of He's Just Not That Into You. Each excuses she made, is just because she's not that into you. The boy fell in love with a girl who does not want to settle down, the girl just likes him, does not love him. They broke up, the boy suffered a very tough battle, all faith had been destroyed, he feels is his only girl, he's destined to be his true love. But the girl met her fate, met her true love, got married quickly, very happy. At last boy wake up and start all over again. The happy ending is not true. They are really separated, that is true. This is the reason why I love this movie, it is real, it is very encouraging, as it tells all still confused child - he / she is not your true love, not the only one, you just need time.
Selfish, self-willed, proud, Mahogany, etc. these are not the the biggest problem in a romantic relationship. No matter how goo he is, whether he had all the answers, you can never convince yourself one thing, that he does not love you.
I didn't really enjoy this film as much as I had hoped. I'm not a big fan of conflict in stories, there is already plenty of conflict in real life. It was depressing to see a young man go through the tragedy of losing what he thought was everlasting love. So it was more of a genre-related qualm for me. I can see the beauty and art behind the writing of this film.
Everything in the world is constantly changing, so it is foolish to assume that anything could be "everlasting." Tom learns this when he meets Autumn (ironically another girl named after a season) Life continues to go through cycles like the seasons, so it is pointless to dwell on things of the past, such as false true-love.
500 days of summer This is a love story, a lovelorn ending, men fall in love at first sight, the woman just want to have fun, love at first sight and continue to love, just want to have fun of it had begun to disconsolate, love happy time is short, the brokenhearted the pain is so long, idealism in realism is to be so thoroughly before failure, is convinced that the set of ideal, those a good before in reality is so fragile, the reality is so let us to despair. By a long road ahead, only turned the pain chapter, brave march toward the front, to find belong to you real happiness, to find your true love. And I think everyone should face to the love carefully, if you not, you can give other people too much damage, maybe it’s easy for you to forget it. I know that most of people will get out of the brokenhearted, but it still have lots of time, so before you apply for receive sb’s love, you should think carefully and apply for him and if you receive, you should be responsible for this love.
500 Days of Summer C04997305 500 Days of Summer starts out with the warning “this is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront this is not a love story.” This quote lets the audience know this isn’t your typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl over some conflict, boy wins girl back romantic comedy, instead this could be viewed more as a romantic dramedy. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the lovesick Tom who falls madly in love with free-spirited and somewhat heartless Summer played by Zooey Deschanel. The film is presented in a nonlinear narrative format that presents different glimpses into the relationship of Tom and Summer. 500 Days of Summer turns the Romantic Comedy genre on its head to a certain degree. Rather than telling the feel good story of love can conquer all, it tells the story of a love mismatch and a broken hearted man. The film alternates between lighthearted comedy and the sad depression that comes with heartbreak. In the end, however, it appears the boy does get the girl just not the original girl he falls in love with. Although the ending of Tom meeting Autumn keeps the film from entirely cracking the genre, it’s almost necessary to tilt the film’s overall scale to lighthearted rather than depressing which leaves the audience satisfied.
This wasn’t the first time I have seen 500 days, but since the day I saw it “500 days of Summer’’ became one of my favorite movies ever. The movie was brilliantly directed in a very interesting story with a very good soundtrack. You can feel Joseph Gordon Levitt’s downfall in happiness from this euphoric high of when he is in the relationship to extreme fall as soon as they break up. Zooey Deschanel also plays her part beautifully, as a heartbreaker- a girl you could see yourself falling in love with but a girl that would not reciprocate the feelings. The story was also handled in a very interesting way with telling you the conclusion first, and then letting you know the events that led up to it. Like some other stories that are structured similarly, 500 Days does a good job of giving you false hope, that maybe something nice will happen when you obviously know that ending is certain and decided upon. One of the most interesting and I feel accurate parts of the movie was the scene with Joseph Gordon Levitt going to Summer’s party and the differentiation of what happened and what he wanted to happen. Also Summer is probably the biggest “bitch” in the history of cinema.
500 days of summer a bit like a kaleidoscope tunnel began gorgeous beautiful, always flash the beautiful stained glass bizarre sense, then out of the tunnel, the front or the light is a soft landing. After watching this child thought, more feel what true love like disgusting looking thing does not exist, the outcomes, like the collision between people but a lot of small universe with each other with bare hands, holding a handful of water, do not know what when the water flow away from the fingers.
Movie actor friend said: The best way to forget a woman is to put him into literature. In fact, this is the director's own voice. The reports say that this is the director, for his personal experience of adaptation of the story. The subtitles of the film beginning to see the director to say, especially for u, - jen beckham Bitch. Really funny. This fool should also not forget why we have a story at the end of the arrangement. Possible in real life, the director really is to start a new romance, but that section of the front, discarding the woman for him, can not forget, but to severely remember a lifetime, Bitch. Director and then to use Tom to prove that, go to your summer, there is always autumn. For me, but life passing a Bitch, and I fell in love with you hate you to begin a new romance, but also 500 days. So, they say, literary and art circles of men trifled with, they love sticky, overbearing, conceited, extremely low self-esteem, then, if you take the initiative to-point hand, then the last generation and the next life will be changed as his source of inspiration. Look at the real-world example, Jennifer Aniston john mayer worship, the latter no less with his song to scold Jennifer how needy and clingy. Such examples jason 'mraz his first please do not the tell her, is dedicated to the EX GF Tristan Prettyman's. But he really put down? If you put down, So why inside I'm yours Love, love, love phrase lyrics, and once the title song of Tristan's first album, Love in the climax is exactly the same. I may really want more.
500 Days of Summer is not a love story, but it is about love. Although this movie has city setting, its background music is kind of old classic. Which I think it works very well with the character –Summer, who has special classic temperament. This movie is interesting to start from the end of the film, which makes us think that Tom and Summer will finally get together and have a sweat ending, but actually they don’t. It is a little sad, but we should have learnt that moving on is the most important thing to do. Summer is gone, but Autumn is coming. To me, it is so funny when I realize that Tom has been interested at dating with a girl called Autumn. That’s not merely a girl’s name, it means “hope, freshness…” something means moving forward and just let the unhappiness go in order to welcome the new stuffs. In 500 days of Summer, Tom will learn about relationships, reconciliations (a good Ex never dies), Love, Lose and most importantly about moving forward. All in all, what I love about this film is about the most successful part this film does is that it presents the action in a non-linear story format. Jumping between the different days of their relationship keeps the scenes fresh and interesting, as the failed conclusion of said relationship is already given. We will always be expecting that what will happen to Tom and Summer when the numbers of day appear on the screen are closer to day 500. Tom is a character easy to relate to if ever you’ve been in a relationship, however blissful or miserable. He handles both with an air of knowing that only comes from experience of the extreme highs and lows unrequited love can bring. On the other side we have Summer, able to manipulate the audience into sympathizing with her, hating her, longing for her, or simply not understanding her.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface, this film is just another romantic comedy with some unique timeline effects. However, unlike many other romantic comedies I've viewed in my life, this film really hit home with me, and I'm sure that it had an impact on other as well. The reason for this is that Tom's emotions, whether up or down, felt so real and in some instances brought back memories from my high school romantic endeavors.
ReplyDeleteThe filmmaker uniquely combined Tom's infatuous, happy-go-lucky persona with his darker, more depressing one, by actually cutting scenes of his joy and sorrow back to back. For example, Tom danced through the streets in utter bliss only then to get off the elevator looking like a wreck. The constant hop between good and bad in Tom and Summer's relationship was actually exhausting at times because as the audience you would be tricked by the director into thinking everything would be okay, only to find out 125 days later, they couldn't stand each other.
Despite the ambiguity of the film while it's actually being watched, due to the fact that the audience never actually knows how the story will conclude, this film has a host of lessons underneath its somewhat mannered exterior. This unique story of boy meets girl is not about one relationship clouded by various obstacles, but about the broad topic of love in general. To me, this film said that love is real, and can be real for everybody. Tom might have had extremely strong feelings for Summer, but because they weren't reciprocated the same way, he wasn't actually feeling love. I wasn't sure what message the film was trying to get across until autumn came, and then it was all too clear.
Overall, I am not generally a fan of romantic comedies but it was refreshing to watch one and actually be able to take something away from it.
Even though 500 Days of Summer can be seen as a “rom-com” (romantic comedy), it is still very unromantic and confusing at the same time as it even warns us that this is not the typical love story. It must have been especially confusing for Tom to have to go through a relationship with Summer, the independent woman who had no grasp on love at first and who eventually falls for another man. This just goes to show how relationships can either make you or break you. Just as Tom’s heart is broken, the movie uses a choppy and fractured technique to break up the pieces of the relationship and show the audience the events that happen out of order. A typical love story would start from the beginning and tell the story to the end but this one begins with the end scene where the audience is tricked into thinking the outcome will end on a good note which I felt was important. This is one of the main reasons I love the movie. It doesn’t follow the traditional rules of usual romantic comedies.
ReplyDeleteThis was my second time watching the movie and I feel that it was a movie many people could relate to. A real relationship is never perfect like the movies usually portray them as. I’m sure many people have been in Tom’s position and seeing the choppy clips of the good times and bad times in his relationship made it that much more realistic. It highlights the fact that love blinds and how easily one can lose themselves in a relationship. This was especially true once they had sex and Tom became ecstatic but then cuts almost immediately to his face of hatred in the elevator after Summer breaks up with him.
I especially enjoyed the music choice as well as the editing effects and loved how they incorporated The Smith’s song on the computer and edited it over in the background when Tom was in the office. Although much of the movie is seen through the eyes of Tom, the movie gives both presentations of the boy meets girl story. However, even though I hated Summer ( Zooey Deschanel) for leaving him I still liked the ending where boy meets girl all over again. It just goes to show how love is a renewable process.
Although we have categorized “500 Days of Summer” as the un-romantic, romantic comedy I actually disagree with this statement. The movie did have bits of romance.
ReplyDeleteThe film features a boy falling in love with a girl. There were montages and bursts of spontaneity. The film had dancing and animation, definitely hints of a romantic comedy. It is true that in a traditional romantic comedy it is the girl that gushes over the guy, and finds a way to get her man. Usually the female character has romantic fantasies about her boyfriend. Yet, in this film it seems that Tom is the one doing everything he can to woo Summer. Tom is also the one with the romantic images and subsequent negative thoughts of Summer. These visions and fantasies are also generally female traits in traditional romantic comedies. Yet in the end we were betrayed as an audience. The film left us longing for more. We did not get our happily ever after. However, the casting of this film was brilliant. In an Indie film such as this, you need quirky Indie Actors. Although Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are totally adorable, they also have that off beat vibe going for them, which fit so well for this film. Overall this was a great film, and I love the fact that everything doesn’t have to be a big blockbuster film to actually make it in the cinema.
"(500) Days of Summer" plays with the idea of romantic comedy through the plot by avoiding a traditional love story. In this tale, boy meets girl, boy falls in love, but girl doesn't. This movie breaks the traditional format of romantic comedy by using a little gender role swapping. Zooey Deshanel's character Summer, is not just like every other girl. She doesn't want to be anyone's girlfriend and she certainly doesn't fantasize about marriage. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character Tom on the other hand has been a hopeless romantic since he was a young boy. The story focuses on Tom trying to get Summer to commit to a relationship, but she is unwilling and unsure.
ReplyDeleteThis movie makes light of a very heavy situation with the witty humor of the script. Tom often says pretty funny lines in his misery. The film switches between times of happiness and misery for Tom, often drawing contrasts on them. This technique prevents the film from ever getting too depressing. It also serves to show a direct comparison between the early stages of their relationship and the later stages as their relationship was nearing its end. Ultimately, as Tom somewhat manages his heartbreak, his hope for love is renewed as he meets new girl Autumn. In this manner, (500) Days of Summer does manage to stay somewhat true to the genre.
From the very opening scene, the audience is told that the movie is not a love story. This is key, because looking at the couple, sitting on a park bench, an engagement ring on her finger, you would immediately assume that is one. The idea that 500 Days of Summer is an anti-love story or un-romantic romantic comedy is fitting. It is romantic in that the two protagonists, Tom and Summer, do meet, fall in love and are together for a while. However, it is also an un-romantic story because both Tom and Summer end up with two entirely different people. The movie plays with genre expectations because even though we are told that the pair do not end up together, throughout the movie we still find ourselves rooting for them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Tom was the one who taught Summer how to fall in love, and because of this she was able to meet her future husband and fall in love. Tom, similarly met at girl called Autumn in the final scene, who we are led to believe, is his future wife. Overall, I liked how the movie was not continuous, it jumped from day to day, starting with the end and then going to the beginning and then only showing certain key moments in Tom and Summer's relationship. I found this to be both interesting and unusual, but it also worked well.
Devika Boodhoo
DeleteC06517157
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteI thought this movie was great precisely because it was this “unromantic romantic comedy,” but I think there was a lot of romance in this movie. There were many moments such as the run through Ikea that were very romantic and fun. It’s this sort of realism in romance that I enjoyed in this film. It wasn’t over the top and grand; it was simple and real and mundane. These are the types of moments that can either be extremely romantic or mundane as the film showed. The scene of the early start to the relationship showed great romance in the store, but then there was the shot of being in the store some time later in the relationship and it’s not romantic. It’s a chore, and Tom is meagerly trying to rekindle that romance which Summer is having none of. The way the film was framed is unique, and I think directly confronts the formulaic style of romantic comedies. You see these moments of great joy as the relationship progresses, and the next shot is one of misery when it ends. These shots are connected through the same thread, but it is under two distinct emotional circumstances. What really broke down the procedure of romantic comedies for me was the fact that it was never really easy for Tom to initiate the relationship with Summer. In most romantic comedies it seems like the circumstances make it so easy for the love interests to come together as if it’s by some divine intervention. There is no awkward failure and stumbles along the way. There may be some grand emotional obstacle, but to me it most always seemed too contrived. Here you had small blunders such as when Tom plays up The Smiths on his computer in hopes of getting Summer’s attention. These small failures and the role that Tom plays with all his expectations and hopes about love are what attracted me to this film. It shows that men can be just as pathetically romantic as women can be portrayed in film, and by contrast women can be as remote and disconnected as Summer. If anything, this movie expands gender roles to reflect the complexity of romance that truly exists. I think more people can connect to this rather than the tired machismo of Mathew McConaughey and the spirited barbie-girl femininity of Kate Hudson.
I think the real point of 500 Days of Summer is the last part when Summer explains to Tom that she just woke up and realized that she wanted to marry her new boyfriend. She says that everything she now has with him is everything she had been unsure of with Tom. This must have been very painful for Tom to hear this from the girl he thought he loved, but in a way it was also encouraging. It showed that now even Summer, who at first didn’t believe in true love at all, now had experienced it. It shows Tom that even though Summer wasn’t his true love, his true love is still out there. The last scene when he meets Autumn in the waiting room turns the sad ending into a cute and hopeful ending. Although the movie truly wasn’t a love story, it had everything to do with love, or the lack of love. I think it was encouraging to any viewers that didn’t previously believe in love, since it shows Summer (someone that they can relate to), fall in love. Typical love stories on the other hand can be depressing for people that don’t believe in true love because they are so cliché and the viewer sees the events of the movie as so unrealistic and will know that they’ll never be able to experience those things.
ReplyDeleteI went in expecting 500 Days of Summer to be an unentertaining film, but came out pleasantly surprised. To begin with though, classifying this movie as an "un-romantic romantic comedy" just seems like a marketing ploy to appeal the film to audiences who consider themselves too intelligent for romantic comedies or disdain of their widespread presence as low brow films. Saying 500 Days of Summer isn't a love story or a romantic comedy is just appealing the film to the same crowd who can associate with its Indie nature, Zooey Deschanel as the lead actress, the use of alternative rock indie music, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's need to carry a satchel throughout the movie; the crowd known as so-called "hipsters". The film is full of comedy, and it is about romance, even though Tom and Summer do not end up together; ergo, I would classify it as a romantic comedy. I think a truly un-romantic romantic comedy would probably end in a much more miserable fashion than this one: Tom would never find love, or someone would die in a horrific accident and we'd be left feeling the world is a terrible place. All that being said, I still did enjoy the movie. Romantic films are truly all about chemistry between the leads, and Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Summer and Tom demonstrated that beyond a doubt. The best part about the film is the reversal of the typical gender roles: the boy is the one who believes in true love, but the girl does not. The film is both entertaining and poignant, and the way in which it is told in a fractured manner of the varying days of Summer not only keeps the audience engaged in how things are going to reach the conclusion, but also allows them to gain a more intimate understanding of Tom's situation. His moments of happiness and despair are powerful contrasted together, such is in the elevator scenes or Tom's descriptions of Summer's qualities. Overall, the film does make an interesting argument towards the power of fate. Had Tom never met Summer, he may never have left his job, pursued his dream of architecture, or met Autumn at the interview. So in the end, the film really is about romance and its ups and downs.
ReplyDelete500 days of summer is an entertaining un-romantic romantic comedy that skews all my previous thoughts that every love story was the same. In this movie it was the boy, instead of the girl, who couldn’t be happy unless he found true love, and the girl played the classic “boy” role in not really thinking about love unless it came right before him. The movie is a play on gender roles in that it seems that the guy, Tom, is the one often teaching the girl, Summer, about what love truly is and what relationships are all about. The girl seems to not be having any of it, and doesn’t believe in true love because it wont last because we are always changing throughout life and when we are young “we mind as well have fun when we can.” From an outside perspective, my guy friends usually have the same outlook on love that Summer does in this film, rather than Tom, and they want to stay free and not tied down. Another aspect of this film that I liked was that it portrayed the fact that there are not always happy endings and life and we don’t always get what we want. The film storyline was so real while staying away from being cliché. Instead of being like other movies, where two meet and live happily ever after, Tom and Summer’s relationship status changes from good to bad over and over and in the end they separate. I love how this movie portrays “real” life so well, and I could relate Tom and Summer’s story to what many of my friends have been through. It’s never always smooth sailings in life, we all have to make way through obstacles, and this film very well depicts that.
ReplyDeleteIn watching ‘500 Days of Summer’ for what seems to be the millionth time, I noticed the questions it presents about love. One of the points made within the film is that you never truly know who ‘the one’ is. For example, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and is immediately captivated by her. He refers to her as ‘the one’ to his friends, who have their doubts, and his little sister, Rachel (Chloe Moretz). In a later scene between Tom and Rachel, she admits to him that she never believed Summer was the one for him.
ReplyDeleteRachel and Tom are the perfect contrast between one another, because although she is merely a child, she knows more about love than Tom does, while he holds the beliefs about love Rachel should have at her age. He listens to her more carefully then he does to his friends, and their relationship is one of the many highlights of the film.
Another perfect example about ‘the one’ is when Summer marries an unknown man. He never appears on screen, his name is never revealed, and we never see any interaction between him and Summer. ‘The one’ is an illusion, someone we give a face and name to in our minds. We want to believe that we know who ‘the one’ is, but as it is displayed in the film, we never find out. Summer may have married ‘the one’ or, on a different note, Tom may have been ‘the one’.
Both of them manage to move on from each other, Tom to the ironically named girl, Autumn, who symbolizes a new season, a new chapter in his life, and perhaps ‘the one’, and Summer to the invisible man who was better than Tom, at least in Summer’s eyes.
The color scheme is interesting, blue being the most represented color of the spectrum. Blue symbolizes sincerity, which is ironic, because the relationship between Summer and Tom is far from sincere, and the color is used to highlight Summer. Summer is insincere, and takes part in a false, meaningless relationship with Tom, even when she knows he is falling in love with her. Everywhere Summer is, there’s blue, in her eyes, on her outfits, in her hair. When she’s not on the screen, there are more grays, emphasizing Tom’s depression without her, and the lack of color and sincerity in his life. In all honesty, 500 Days of Summer is one of my favorite films, and tells a beautiful story of the harsh realities of heartbreak and the loss of love.
Jason Koreen
ReplyDeleteFor a romantic comedy with not much deviance from the most standard film of this genre, I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few things that stood out that I thought separated this movie from being another bland love story. First off, the timeline of which the movie was created, that being the back and forth between the “500 days of Summer” gave the viewer reason to have continued interest. Although this informed the audience of what would normally be happening later on in the movie, it did really emphasize that something possibly devastating or monumental would happen on that 500th day. That it did. Once Tom realized that his lifelong belief of fate was more or less something superficial, he was finally able to open up and move on from what he thought was his one and only true love. Of course meeting Autumn, ironically, could have ended after a quick coffee together, it gave the movie a warm, not too overdone Hollywood ending. Another thing I liked about this film was the realness to it and how the plot could be of meaning to many people watching it. I thought the two actors played their roles flawlessly and did a very convincing job. I thought Zooey Deschanel was a great selection to play the lead because I always felt as if she was somewhat of a tease, and clearly that’s what she was supposed to be for Tom. The cinematography, although simple for the most part did do a nice job of incorporating little nuances throughout. The one part of this that stood out the most for me was when Tom showed up at Summer’s party. The film was edited in a split screen fashion where half was showing Tom’s expectations, AKA what he hoped would happen, and the other half showing the reality. Interestingly enough, I felt as if this was a huge turning point in their relationship.
500 days of summer is a refreshing and rare movie with emotional realism, which already begins by telling the audience the ending of the movie and that it is not a love story. Regardless, I had other expectations and still hoped that the movie would have a different ending and that Summer and Tom would end up together as it is expected in any romantic comedy. This movie converts the classical romantic Hollywood movie, which shows how a relationship begins, stops, resumes and ultimately ends, into a fantastical movie that breaks up the chronological narrative into different pieces giving it another perspective. These shattered scenes help with the romantic confusion experienced by Tom. The movie, which is a lovely comedy, is basically about Tom wrestling with the reality that Summer does not want to have a long lasting relationship with him. Even though the film appears disjointed, the structure puts a fresh twist on elements. For example, when Tom is thrilled after their first sleep-over, there is this musical that is unexpected. He enters the lobby so happy. The movie then cuts directly to Tom in the elevator after his break up, extremely sad. I loved the parts of the split-screen where you could see the expectations Tom had when meeting Summer and the reality played out side by side.
ReplyDeleteIts is very interesting how Summer remains mysterious all throughout the film; we never get fully acquainted with her feelings. We only know that she does not believe in love due to her parents divorce. On the other hand, we are more close to Tom’s feelings and his life. We can see joy, depression, uncertainty and hope in Tom's psyche. Summer and Tom are two characters who seem to have chemistry as a couple but that are opposite characters in that he is optimistic and expressive, while she is a restrained realist. Although the film is told mostly from Tom's viewpoint, Summer’s feelings help to reject the perfect combination that makes a conventional romantic comedy.
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the trailer of this movie, I thought it would be really boring. I felt it was like an old movie (intended to be from the 80s I mean), but it turns out it was not. I think the movie is a little slow to be honest, I felt it kept the same pace all throughout. It is not a bad movie either, in my opinion, but I believe I could have been better. The reason I believe this is because of how it ends. We see a whole movie about a story of two people who do not know what they are, a story that for the audience (or at least for me), has just one ending/outcome: Tom and Summer will end up being together. But it was the complete opposite, Summer married someone else. The unexpected occurred, to me. For me it was watching a story which its outcome does not reflect the story itself, or as I hoped it would. However, after a while since I finished watching it, I started to be a little more open to how it ended. Clearly they had no chemistry by the end, they were unsure of what they wanted and where they stood, but they learned and gained a lot from the time they were “together”. I also found some scenes in the movie to be very weird really, like when he is dancing with some other people in a park, along with a cartoon bird; and the scene in IKEA in which they pretend to be married I think. I honestly do not understand why they would include such scene; it was strange to me and completely unnecessary in my opinion.
500 Days of Summer is a more realistic romantic comedy. I think it can still be classified as a romantic comedy even though the two main characters do not end up together. There were definitely comedic and romantic elements to the film. The film is about a relationship, which ends up not being "THE" relationship that most rom-coms focus on. I think the film uses a fresh approach and was well done.
ReplyDeleteSome elements to the film that I found interesting was the use of a narrator and some black and white scenes. The use of the narrator did a good job at telling the story and showing the audience the 500 days of Tom and Summer's relationship so to speak. The use of black and white was interesting and served as an interview technique of Tom and his friends. The music in the film was probably my favorite part. The use of sounds and songs was extremely well placed and conveyed the emotion of each scene perfectly.
The character of Tom would traditionally be the female role in most romantic comedies. The same goes for Summer playing the male role. I think reversing them adds a fresh twist to the over done genre. I also really enjoyed Tom's sister acting as his sort of mentor throughout the film even though she is very young. I also thought finding out the ending at the beginning worked well in this movie.
The use of color was interesting to me in this film. Blue was used a lot to signify the good times in their relationship and gray and black signified the bad times. I also noticed green was used when Tom was hopeful about something. The blue also was used to portray the season summer, which switched to a yellow for autumn at the end. Making the inside of the building the yellowish color at the end was interesting and showed the start of "autumn." I have never noticed coloring so much in a movie and although it was blatantly obvious I think it worked well.
500 Days of Summer brings a fresh perspective to the genre of romantic comedy. The movie accurately portrayed a relationship that eventually ends, which is the case with most. I think adding more realism to the film is what makes it relatable to a lot of people. Some audiences are tired of seeing the same old romantic comedy where the guy gets the girl in the end and they live happily ever after.
I loved (500) Days of Summer because of the way it plays with the romantic comedy genre and the audience's expectations. The movie's whimsical and slightly satirical tone is clear from the opening narration, where the narrator explicitly states, "This is not a love story, but it is a story about love." In a traditional rom-com, audiences would expect the film's plot to follow the conventions of the genre: a couple meets, falls in love, has some relationship troubles, but finally resolves their differences and lives happily ever after. (500) Days takes these conventions and turns them over, instead creating a much more accurate and realistic representation of modern relationships. Instead of two "soulmates" who resolve all their problems and have a perfect, idealistic relationship, the movie follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), two regular adults that have a relationship that just doesn't work out. I think that one of the reasons this movie was such a hit with audiences is because of the realism in the relationship.
ReplyDeleteThe film's satirical qualities and examination of expectations are obvious in two specific scenes: the extended musical sequence following the first time Tom and Summer have sex, and the later "expectations vs. reality" scene at Summer's apartment. The first uses animation and exaggerated music and dance cues to augment Tom's elated feelings, while the second uses split-screen and subtitles to illustrate the differences in Tom's expectations and reality, paralleling the audience's experience with the film.
Overall, the reason that the film truly succeeds to me is its realism, tempered by a strong sense of optimism. Just because Tom and Summer don't work out doesn't meant that Tom won't find love. And just because the movie doesn't play out the way we as an audience expect it to doesn't mean it won't be great.
500 days of summer is a movie about the intense relationship, or rather the friendship, between Tom and Summer and is being told through 500 days where there are good moments but unfortunately, more bad ones for their relationship.
ReplyDeleteWhat interested me the most were all the original aspects of the movie. The calendar, which shows which of the 500 days the current scenes portrayed, helped the audience keep track on where in the movie we were. You don’t have to think and be confused that much, even though the movie is moving back and forth in time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is thus a movie en the same genre however it differs to 500 days of summer as the story confuses the audience. Moreover, there are different sequences in 500 days of summer that is made in a very impressive way, often to emphasize Toms feelings.
I also believe the actors’ do a good job throughout the movie. The main character Tom, played by Joseph Gordon – Levitt, is especially impressive as he is portrayed successfully as happy, angry, sad and insecure. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer, and she also is playing well as the director wants to portray her as what Tom calls her “a unique girl”.
Another thing I like about the movie that even though is a classic love story movie, it is occasionally very funny, and there is a few times the awkward moments really make you laugh. All in all a sad story, however a good movie and I would recommend others to see it.
(500) Days of Summer is not as bad as my friends made it out to be. Granted they were right, Zooey Dechanel (aka Summer Flynn) is a complete robot, just as Joseph Gordon-Levitt ( Tom Hanson) said she was, but her robotic characteristic is understandable in the context of the movie. The movie is an un-romantic, romantic comedy. The robotic characteristic is somewhat comical, it really gets the audience to side with Tom. The comparisons are also comical, like how he describes her when he loves her “ I love her heart shaped freckle” compared to how he describes her when he hates her “ I hate her cockroach shaped freckle”.
ReplyDeleteThe audience thinks the movie is a romantic-comedy movie because of the starting scenes and narration: “January 8th, Tom knows she is who he has been searching for.” This film seems like a romantic comedy especially once it flashes to the couple sitting on the bench in the park, with the engagement ring on Summer’s finger. The audience assumes they are engaged which is a funny trick as the audience later finds out. One of the reasons I like this movie is because it is not what it seems—it is not a romantic movie, but it sure does start like one.
One of my favorite examples of why this movie is a rom-com is the scene after Tom has sex with Summer. He exits the building, sees himself as Harrison Ford in reflections and then does a musical number in the park. It’s so unexpected that it’s comical. Plus, the audience has a connection with Tom’s character because after you finally succeed in getting what you’ve been chasing, it does feel like life is a music, only in Tom’s case it becomes literal.
I believe this movie not only fits into the rom-com genre, but also the indie film genre. It is not at all like a traditional movie since it bounces back and forth in time. It reminds me of Juno in how the subtext is laid out throughout the film. It fits into the indie film genre, like a key in a lock, when Tom is going over to Summer’s house and the film gives a side by side comparison of reality versus expectations. I really liked that aspect since it gave the audience insight into Tom’s head. That aspect made the movie more real to me since I also daydream about what is going to happen. I don’t get to visually compare side by side my expectations and reality, but I think the director did a very adequate job.
Very few romantic comedies in today’s modern era can actually blend comic and emotional strength towards the viewer. 500 days of summer achieves that objective and with quite craft in every department. Gordon –Levitt’s adaptation as tom showed how far he has come from Nolan’s inception. His handling of different emotions and his ability to involve the reader in his rollercoaster journey defines the fine actor he is of our generation. Zooey deschanel, who I’ve always appreciated from her previous works especially yes man. She also provides a fresh and quirky performance that complement well with the setting and the mood of the movie. The film itself can be seen as sweet, heartbreaking, conventional. I can go on and on, yet this movie is something unique. Works of art you rarely see in cinema these days. The movie reminds me a lot of one of my favorite romantic “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind”. the way the story unfolds, cinematography and the music are fine examples of what makes both the movies so memorable in the viewers mind. 500 days of summer hits the right notes, its original, upbeat and a mere perfect script makes this movie a must see romantic comedy.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer is a very unique romantic comedy that changes up many of the typical stereotypes about relationships and love. Having never seen nor heard about the movie beforehand, I expected the typical fall in love, have problems, resolve problems, and live happily ever after story. I was surprised and somewhat excited to see that the film was different and shows a relationship that simply does not work out. I found this interesting because in real life, most relationships do not work out so it was nice to see an aspect of reality in a romantic comedy. The colors of the film were very representative of the emotions going on in the lives of Tom and Summer. When they were happy there were a lot of blues and lighter colors, but when the relationship wasn't going well, the colors were much grayer. Another thing I found to be unique about the film is that the gender roles were switched in comparison to most other romantic qualities. Tom played the more loving, extroverted lover whereas Summer was much more masculine and introverted about her feelings. Tom and Summer have amazing chemistry in the film and I believe that is one of the reasons the film is so enjoyable. Their performances allow us to feel the love, humor, awkwardness, and other feelings that they are feeling. Also, many films that skip around from time period to time period often confuse the viewers. In this case, the calendars with the specific day of their relationship really helps us as viewers to stay aware of where we are in the story. While there is a serious tone to much of the film, it is surprisingly funny which in my opinion adds to the appeal of the film. Overall, while the story is somewhat sad, I really enjoyed the film because it is nice to see a unique spin on the romantic comedy.
ReplyDelete"500 Days of Summer" is one of those movies that's grown on me over time. When I first saw it when it was in theatres, I liked it at first, but thought it dragged on a little long and was relieved when it was finally over. Ironically, me and the two girls in our group were glad it was finally over after dragging on the last third or so, but the two guys didn't feel the same. Like I said, I thought that was ironic.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm finding it's one of those movies I like watching different bits at different times, but to watch it as a whole makes me hesitate a bit. I will say I liked the score, but the idea that every guy would look at that one girl takes me out of it a bit.
The color scheme and juxapositions of the placement of the scenes (or the editting of the scenes) was interesting. I liked how they would jump all over the place, making it more interesting and engaging than simply going in order.
It didn't hurt that I like Matthew Gray Gubler from "Criminal Minds" who played one of the best friends (though like in quite a few seasons of "Criminal Minds," his hair could've used some work). I also liked the character of the sister. I actually found the supporting characters more interesting than the main characters in this film, which was actually really nice. Normally, you're supposed to like the leads and be entertained by the supporting players, but I liked the change - the supporting characters felt more fleshed out with less time on screen than the stereotypical leads. I say stereotypical because that's what they are - while many may argue it's the reverse to make the guy more like the girl and vice versa, it's not exactly a new idea anyone should be surprised by - for some reason, it felt like nothing new to me.
All in all, I own the film, but I haven't actually watched it since I bought it, but it's there if I want to, which I guess is kind of how I feel about the movie as a whole - it's a cute and entertaining film, if not a tad annoying at times for various reasons. I like it, but not enough to watch it as much as other films I truly love.
500 Days of Summer is a romantic comedy that inverts many of the traditions of the genre in order to critique contemporary dating habits. To me, the strongest example of this is gender inversion. Tom is the hopeless romantic, while Summer is the strong independent figure struggling to balance isolation and companionship. Whereas Tom may adopt the concept of making love, Summer adheres to the maxim of having sex without complicating things with a serious relationship. Furthermore, the film focuses largely on Tom’s feelings and his circle of friends rather than Summer’s. As a result, Summer is portrayed as an aloof recluse who initiates and terminates the relationship at will, without considering Tom’s feelings. In fact, the film’s unconventional timeline forces the viewer to consider the devastating effects of the breakup rather than indulge in the transient happiness of the relationship. Overall, I believe this is a critique on the effects of women’s sexual independence. The fairytale of women maintaining their chastity until they’re wooed by a handsome beau is dead. Instead, the preponderance of divorce and other problems bring about disillusionment. Women do not wait for love (or more specifically sex) to come to them, but instead seek it for themselves. Men, on the other hand, have become just as emotionally vulnerable as women were in the past. It is Tom, not Summer, who adopts a fairytale of true love. However, the film concludes with Summer falling in love and Tom potentially wooing the “right” one. So although the film depicts an unconventionally unromantic relationship, it ends with the optimism and gender roles of traditional romantic comedies. Therefore, I believe that the film is a true romantic comedy that incorporates post-modern sensibilities to paint a more realistic portrayal of love in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how I felt when I saw the trailer of “500 Days of Summer” three years ago. It was released in 2009 as many other romantic comedies. I haven’t watched the movie at this time because I saw “The Ugly Truth” and “The Proposal” and I thought this would be a terrible romantic comedy, too. However, in the class screening I felt that this decision was wrong. I should have watched it instead of the other two because this is an outstanding, realistic, and beautifully made romance movie with an excellent humor.
ReplyDeleteTom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) felt deeply in love with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) who is just looking for fun and isn’t interested in a relationship at all. This is unique as generally women are falling in love for men and they have to “open” their eyes. However, Tom fails, and Summer is getting married with another man (the viewer doesn’t even get to know who he is). This feels out of place for a romantic movie. However, this makes the film so memorable, too. In real life, not everyone is happy in a relationship. Moreover, not everyone is returning someone’s love. The story “500 Days of Summer” and the outstanding performance of Tom, who is changing realistically from extremely delighted (after having sex with Summer) to depressive (when she breaks up with him without any reason), focus on this “love” realism perfectly. The movie departs from the romantic comedy tradition and makes out of a true love story a roller coaster ride of emotions which ends in nowhere.
Along this remarkable story, I have to point out the great job of editing. Switching between the 500 days of romance and letting the viewer see, how the relationship between the protagonists changed during 500 days, is impressive. I think the greatest impact on me had the elevator scene. After Tom had sex with Summer, he danced through the streets and went into the elevator happily. Lots of days later he is leaving it with a depressive face. One doesn’t expect this sudden change. Therefore, one wants to get to know more about the relationship and why everything changed so dramatically. Of course, this interest is awakened by other visual effects (happy scenes are bright, depressive are dark and greyish), too. But, the editing is the most memorable part along with the excellent performance and storyline. All in all, I enjoyed the movie much, and I believe it is the best romantic comedy film of the past years.
500 Days of Summer, a 2009 comedy film written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, is a fascinating film in that it reverses the stereotypical male and female roles. The film employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memory-driven look at a failed relationship. I personally found the use of a nonlinear structure to be highly effective and was a great way to keep the audience engaged in the story. The fact that the audience had to sort out all of the action that occurred on screen bit by bit really helps make the film unusual in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteI found the fact that Tom Hansen and Summer Finn never got engaged, or at least moved further in their relationship, to be a little disappointing, but clearly there were better things in store for both people. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of scenes where Tom is looking incredibly happy and scenes where he appears to be miserable shocks the audience and makes them wonder what could have possibly happened to have caused such distress. Despite all this I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, so all in all it was probably right for Tom and Summer to split up and start afresh.
500 Days of Summer was definitely one of the best romantic films of the past few years and despite being a un-romantic romantic comedy definitely made the audience feel strongly towards all the characters in the story.
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote 500 Days of Summer. It is classified as a nonlinear narrative romantic comedy, however it strays very far from the generic romantic comedy genre. This film goes far away from the typical boy meets girl, some sort of struggle or conflict, then boy and girl end up together structure. Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a hopeless romantic who falls in love with Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. Summer is looking for a fling while Tom is looking for a serious relationship. This directly opposes societies view that women are always looking for a serious commitment and men want a no strings attached relationship.
ReplyDeleteSummer ends the relationship, but ends up getting married shortly after. This crushes Tom, and in someway the movie viewers, who thought Summer was the love of his life. The structure of jumping back and forth in time through the relationship was very original and created this dramatic difference between generic romantic comedies. One of the most significant and well thought out scenes were the two ways in which Tom came out of the exact same elevator. The happiness he expressed due to just having sex with Summer in the first time contrasted to the devastation he portrayed the next time after breaking up with her. This really demonstrates the astounding abilities of both the writers and the director. Although the preview makes it seem as another chick flick for women to go see, I would recommend it to both men and women who will equally appreciate the film
I have seen 500 days of summer many times. Even though I am a huge fan of traditional romantic comedies, I felt like this movie did not fit the same stereotypical mold for this genre. I love this movie because it is so different. I felt the roles of the female and male parts in this movie were reversed from a traditional romantic comedy. In 500 days, Tom is the hopeless romantic while Summer acts more unemotional. The gender roles were completely reversed. From the very beginning the narrator out right says, "This is not your typical love story", and I completely agree. I love how you get to watch the movie from Tom's point of view while in traditional love stories, it is always from the girls view of the relationship. Tom wants a relationship with Summer while Summer wants to be non committed. I love how the film portrays the relationship on different days. There are always flash backs from when the relationship was bad and to when it was good. Something else that was interesting was how Tom was getting advice about Summer from his younger sister. Usually in traditional romantic comedies, the leading girl always needs advice from her girl friends. In 500 days, we never see Summer's family nor any friends. This story is all about Tom's life. I feel like this movie teaches you a lesson while other romantic comedies are just for your enjoyment. Sometimes there are problems in the relationship but you never do anything about it because you are too in love and delusional. When Tom looks back at his past with Summer, he realizes that there were many issues and Summer never treated him right. Summer never loved him back and he failed to realize that.
ReplyDeleteI think that 500 days of summer is pretty good movie, because you are expecting it to be like any other romantic movie with a happy ending and then it turners to be the contrary. I also like the way that the story was related, i does not start in the first day, it is a kind of the two time that the protagonist was living, one part everything was pretty good, he was in love etc, and the other part like always depressed because the girl just broke up with him. I considered that it is a romantic movie, but no so romantic. The guy was in love and suddenly, she told him to be friends and actually disappear, and you expect the to be together again and that never happens, i think is pretty good how the director created this kind of difference from this movie to others.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer tempts audiences with the idea of a perfect love story and, though it doesn’t stray far from other romantic comedies at first, it leaves us brokenhearted. The film unexpectedly exposes a sense of humanity that most male leads try to conceal. Tom mourns his relationship with Summer: he tries to understand what went wrong and it takes reliving his days with her over and over again to realize that she never really intended to stick around. Our ability to see a fragile male lead reveal his inner turmoil sets 500 Days apart from the rest. Role reversal shatters the formula for modern romantic comedies. We see a woman with power, taking charge of a relationship that isn’t really a relationship at all and walking away without hesitation. We see Tom’s sister playing the would-be male confidant and nursing him out of his sadness. 500 Days of Summer establishes a new theme of female empowerment and male helplessness that seems like it’ll take modern cinema by storm within the next few years.
ReplyDelete500 days of summer- Ximena Manrique
ReplyDeleteThis movie sets itself apart because the technique the director Marc Webb uses of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Without a normal sequence it makes the film much more interesting to watch than any other standard one. The message it gives the audience that says things do not happen because of destiny but because of pure coincidence is definitely something that leaves one in a state of reflection. As the quote says, “The coarse of love never run smoothly”, this movie revolutionizes the whole meaning of love and portrays an example of the many complex relationships that exist in the world. It is not a classical rom-com because it portrays the non-cliché type of relationship that is not often shown on the big screens.
Although it follows the same pattern of a com-rom movie, it is portrayed different; it is presented without the ordinariness of the label, it surprises the audience with its resolution. It is engaging how its ending becomes unexpected and startling.
On the other hand, it was nice to observed how the dynamic of Summer and Tom’s relationship is presented. It actually covers de entire stages of it with out the happy ending but a more really one. Where the situation of loving your ex can happen even though it’s hard. People will always love their ex but there needs to be a closure of the cycles.
"500 Days of Summer" is one of the more clever romantic comedies I have seen. The romantic comedy genre is usually highly predictable and cheesy, but I feel that this is exactly where "500 Days of Summer" didn't go. The editing of the film is what makes it most interesting to me. I think that the use of the numbered days adds a very new, interesting element to this movie. I liked that it wasn't necessarily day 1 then day 2 and so on, but that they would skip from the end to the beginning and show you what happens in the middle. This brought the movie out of the typical predictable romantic comedy. Another reason this film was atypical for me was the realistic take on the romantic comedy. If real life relationships were as most romantic comedies depict them to be then every person in the world would be in a relationship at all times. But, this film takes a real world look at relationships. The relationship failed and not for any obvious reasons other than one party in the relationship wasn't as into it as the other. The dialogue was also a high point of this movie for me. The dialogue is witty and funny, and not necessarily stupid comedy. I enjoy a good stupid humor comedy, but I particularly enjoy the way the movie makes you think but remains funny.
ReplyDeleteGaurav Dhiman
ReplyDeleteAlthough I consider myself a cinephile, I cannot say that romantic comedy is a genre that I have followed closely. Horror, action, drama, yes, but romantic comedy, no. The genre has so many conventions that most basically seem the same. Boy meets girl. Some spark fly. There’s tension. The couple gets together for good. Always true.
Well, except in the case of 500 Days of Summer. We do not get the “feel good” ending or story that we normally expect. In fact, the movie plays out more like real life, with the real tribulations of relationships. For every successful relationship, there are probably two or three more failed ones. The movie may be depressing, but it is based in reality. I can dig that.
Not only does the movie have an independent and sobering take on the concept of romance, but it also plays with style. I will most remember this film for its unique methodology of flashbacks. The movie jumps around like almost no other. It also uses numbered days to indicate where exactly in the story we are. In my opinion, this unique filmmaking style lends to the overall chaos in the film, but not in a bad way. On the contrary, the style matches the chaos of our own human lives. Things do not go as smoothly as we ever intend them, if they do at all. More often, coincidence, chance, mistakes, and plain stupidity drive the events of our lives. Things do not always turn out for the best.
Like most other girls my age, I am a fan of romantic comedies. This one in particular, made me not embarrassed of this guilty pleasure. 500 Days of Summer is a clever, and witty film with cutting-edge editing that I believe will influence future films. An example of an editing tactic I like in this movie was the numbering of days to help you as the movie moved around not chronologically. Another think I took out of this movie was how it surprised me. For one, it wasn't the typical romantic-comedy happy ending, which I admire; and second, the musical scene. I would never have expected the main character to break out into song, let alone take the scene out of its realistic context and involve animation into this clearly theatrical setting. After seeing this movie i was satisfied, and happy to not have just seen another movie about an unrealistic love story. Everything about this movie was modernized and it worked, it depicted truth of society today.
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ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer was a delightfully refreshing romantic comedy written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, that essentially turns a stereotypical romantic comedy’s general plot line on its head. Since I have started dating my girlfriend last year, I have seen more chick flicks (or romantic comedies) than I ever imagined possible given my “esteemed” taste in motion pictures. The general formula for most of these romantic comedies go something like this: two unsuspecting partners meet, they soon find themselves unexpectedly attracted to each other, one of them hurts their lover in such a way that threatens the existence of their relationship until finally, all is resolved as they kiss each other and live happily ever after. Personally, this leaves me as a viewer feeling bored, yet mildly content at best. On the other hand, 500 Days of Summer, instills a unique, non-linear plot development in such a brilliant way, that it forces the viewer to ingest and evaluate the relationship as a whole, rather than viewing it simply from the crushing, unexplained break up we are left with.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways, this film appears to intentionally defy and contort the typical romantic comedy. First off, there is a deliberate gender role reversal present in Tom Hansen and Summer Finn’s relationship. While Tom falls deeply, inescapably in love with Summer from Day 1, Summer whimsically declares on several occasions that she is just looking for fun and doesn’t even believe in love. Furthermore, if this story fell along the lines of most romantic comedies, Tom would prove Summer wrong and she would eventually find true love with him. Unfortunately, she shocks the viewer by announcing that she has become engaged to another man shortly following their breakup, ripping both Tom and the audience’s heart out of their chest. Though this is blasphemy in the romantic comedy world, it is brutally honest in its representation of most real world relationships. In all relationships, there is a time in which it seems (at least to one person) that they have found a once in a lifetime love with each other. And in most cases, that feeling is not reciprocated after a certain point, and the relationship comes to an end. Through its juxtaposition of “happy” and “sad” scenes plus its uniquely designed format, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber do a phenomenal job at providing the audience with a hilarious, yet very real representation of the course most relationships take, in one of the most un-romantic romantic comedies seen in recent years.
The first time I saw 500 Days of Summer, I was forced to view it by a friend. A lot of times when you are forced to see something, you don’t like it, but this movie was able to win me over with originality and witty jokes. The movie starts out with the lines “this is not a love story” but the funny thing is it is. The reason it’s not a “love story” is because the main character, Tom, doesn’t get the girl at the end of the movie, Summer. It is hard, almost impossible to name another romantic movie where the hero doesn’t get the girl. Does the guy always have to get the girl for a movie to be a love story? Are genres so defined by modern movie makes, and have such defined formulas that anything different doesn’t fit the genre? The common formula for the modern love story/romantic comedy is boy meets girl, falls in love, some sort of conflict, resolution, kiss, happy ending. It is seen in Hitch, Wedding Crashers, When Harry Met Sally, etc. 500 Days of Summer does a very good job of going outside the traditional lines of a romantic comedy, but stays one nonetheless. The movie even makes fun of traditional love with my personal favorite scene. Tom, a worker at a greeting card company, is depressed because of love and makes a new card with the lines “roses are red, violets are blue, f*** you whore!” 500 Days of Summer is able to bend the traditional lines of the romantic comedy to make a new funny interesting story.
ReplyDelete(500) Days of Summer is a dark romantic comedy twisting the lead female charter to be a heartbreaker, forcing the male lead into a depression. The typical cycle of a romantic comedy is a love story (boy meets girl) with essentially the same style, but different characters. This act of two unlikely people who fall in love in the end is done in this film twice, once in the begging with summer and once in the end with Autumn. One character flaw was Zooey Deschanel’s character, Summer. This helpless romantic, band playing/ singing, dorky girl seemed like the same character she always portrays. For example in Yes Man, a Jim Carry film, she takes Carry on a trance while she serenades him with her indie-style music. What I did like was how non-typical the characters actions where to a typical romantic comedy. Summer tells Tom she doesn’t like to commit, while in the end she does just that. I admire the harsh and edge the characters bring to the film.
ReplyDeleteThe technique of telling the story through a calendar is also a unique quality to the film. The gaps in time are used with the calendar for flashbacks and flash-forwards, giving the audience a better understanding for when the breakup occurs and when the couple is together. The director cleverly places scenes where Tom goes through daily life in a relationship with summer, and later shows the exact same situation, but with Tom as a broken hearted and bitter character.
I think that I am the only one to not like this movie. Everyone I have ever talked to, absolutely loved this movie. I think that for me, I didn't like it for several reasons. The first of this being that its lack of chronological order.
ReplyDeleteWhile this does not make it impossible to follow, it does complicate the watching process. One must constantly remember every detail that has happened thus far up to that date. Whereas a normal movie will follow chronological order so you know that everything that has happened has happened in the "past" in comparison to what is happening on screen. The jumping around forces the viewer to see things that have not happened yet to the character's "present time". While this is an excellent use of dramatic irony, it is not best for story telling.
In addition, for me, I don't like knowing the end before I get there. Knowing from the beginning, that the two of them will not make it, you are basically watching the destruction. You do not have any hope for the relationship since you know it will end. I think that when you take away hope, you have destroyed a large part the enjoyment of watching a movie.
After 500 days, do you still believe that love is a fate? Love is not a passive waiting, but active pursuit, which is (500 days of Summer) an abnormal love story's real main topic. Personally, 500 days of summer makes the audience’s emotion consonantly. The whole film does not have a rapidly sharp up and down story line, but it has a complicate emotion with sweet and sour loving feelings. The director uses a lot contrast shooting skills, using an active role with a passive contrasted personality, or using nonlinear time conversions. After the first scene is in the past, the second one jumps to the future. It makes Tom's attitude change between the love and broken-up. I also like the image segmentation which shows the expectation and disappointment in real. Once the audience has a gap between idealistic scenes and the reality, the movie gives the audience more emotional outbursts. All the story line start from the Tom's mentality, in the meanwhile, audience could not know what is Summer thinking. But I gradually find the rear part, director use The Graduate showing the Summer's love value. Film in film is really good idea emphasizing that "love is only impulse and passion, whatever how deep you love a people, you should have to face the reality" Finally, Summer has tears in the face, she finds what is her really wants, which is the stable life not passion with love. Tom does not find this way, and he is thinking how to love. He does not know what is she really wants. In fact, he has been afraid to catch up himself things, such as to be an architect. Anyway, every film should give us a positive side, as 500 day end, we could find Tom find the different girl Autumn. Maybe love is a fate in our life, but it could be ten million per one chance. Do not expect passive waiting, but active measures. It's the best the way to find a love story.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer will always be a favorite movie of mine. From the epic soundtrack to the creative portrayal of Summer and Tom's relationship, everything about this film never fails to draw me in. The film depicts-- in a very unconventional fashion-- the rise and fall of Tom's unbearable infatuation of his coworker, Summer. The film begins towards the end of the relationship, where we see Tom breaking dishes out of pure anger from what Summer has done to him. This lets the audience know where the relationship is headed, without giving away specifics. The film does a fantastic job with contrasting the ups and downs of the relationship. One scene shows Tom and Summer browsing around in Ikea. Tom makes a joke about the sink not working, and Summer is unamused. The next scene shows Tom and Summer enthusiastically playing "house" in Ikea: pretending to cook dinner, watch TV, lay in a bed, etc. Another very interesting contrast would be Tom's musical number right after he sleeps with Summer. The scene shows Tom performing a choreographed dance to Hall & Oats with random people on the street, complete with acrobatic tricks and cartoon birds. After his dance, Tom enters the elevator with a huge grin plastered across his face. The next scene opens with Tom getting off an elevator looking disheveled and downright depressed. The story of 500 Days of Summer and how it is portrayed throughout the film, is unlike any movie I have seen and will always be considered a personal favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw this movie was for this class. I have some friends who are obsessed with this movie but I have some others who hate it. So, the first time I saw it I didn’t know what to expect exactly.
ReplyDeleteI really liked it. This movie is definitely an un-romantic romantic comedy. This is one of the few movies (before the trend started with Friends with Benefits, No Strings Attached, What Happens in Vegas...) where the gender characters stereotypes have been reverse. The guy is the one who is trying and struggling really hard to fight for a relationship with the main female character. Sex is taken more casually than before, and sex scenes have a comedic component.
I love the way they edited the scenes together, the sequence it takes even thought it is not in the typical order.
I also really liked the complexity of the characters. They are anything but simple. Summer is complicated, strange, smart, but it seems like she doesn’t know what she wants until the last scene of the movie (where she appears) where you figure out that she always knew what she wanted and she couldn’t find it with Tom. Tom is sweet, really and really hopeful, he gets really attached to people really quickly and he really believed in true love.
“ This is not a love story. This is a story about love.” This quote found underneath the title summaries perfectly what (500) Days of Summer is all about. This is not the usual romantic comedy, which leaves me feeling slightly better than I did at the start. With clever use of editing and very innovative approach to a jaded genre, Marc Webb manages to creative one of my favorite ‘un-romantic’ comedies ever. It was one of those films where nothing was unexpected. For example when Tom Hansen breaks into song and dance to really show the emotion he was feeling. The editing of the film reminded me of Scott Pilgrim Versus vs. the world, there was animation and the film was constantly being taken out of realistic context.
ReplyDeleteThe sporadic shifts in time were something I had not really seen before but was perfectly appropriate in a film like this. I found the way the days were labeled was cleaver and helped you not get lost in constant shifting times.
Lastly this was not a film where everything works out perfectly in the end and they all live happily ever after. Instead he showed a far more realistic love story with modern day problems that were actually believable. In reality a large majority of relationships don’t work out and this was a tribute to them.
Nicholas Sando
C10186082
The filmmakers of (500) Days of Summer make it easy to be sympathetic with Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and they do a solid job of making the viewer's feelings towards Summer (Zooey Deschanel) vary to align with those of Tom. The scattered nature of the film gives the viewer little glimpses of the lives of these two characters, Tom's 500 days of Summer.
ReplyDeleteThe film is very well-made and does a good job of contrasting expectations with reality, early joy contrasted with late sadness. It becomes quite easy to despise Summer for what she does to Tom, something that most romantic comedies, or romances in general, fail at. More than anything, we feel sorry for Tom when we see earlier scenes of him with Summer, because we know what happens to their relationship.
(500) Days of Summer seems to connect with people on a fairly personal level; many people can identify a relationship that either they or a friend has experienced that reminds them of the film, making it a more universal movie and increasing its appeal.
I do not typically like romantic comedies. I knew that “500 Days of Summer” was supposedly an “unromantic comedy” so I hoped that maybe I would enjoy it. I didn’t. The film tried much too hard to be an “unromantic” comedy and not a romantic one. All its attempts to be edgy fell flat. It seemed like a film made for people who secretly like romantic comedies but are too ashamed to admit it. This film was “edgy” enough that they could admit to liking it and still keep their pride.
ReplyDeleteAlthough overall the film did not impress me, one component did. I appreciated the less traditional gender roles. The fact that Tom was pushing for a relationship while Summer was the more ambivalent partner felt realistic. It was one of the few “quirky” aspects of the film that did not feel forced. Unfortunately the other quirky aspects did feel forced. I would have rather watched a romantic comedy comfortable with its genre than one trying too desperately to be cool.
As said in the beginning of the film. This is not a love story. He does not get the girl. There is no love at first sight. She is not "the one". That's what makes this movie so great. It's a romantic comedy without the clichés, and it's blunt about how true love does not exist. This movie is about a girl, but not just any girl. She's the girl that you can't get out of your head but you wish you could. The girl in question is named Summer(Zooey Deschanel). Said girl meets boy. This boy is named Tom(Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and he falls for her in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for him, he loses her just as easily. The movie is told in a completely nonlinear fashion, skipping through various days and phases of his relationship with Summer. But the whole the story is always connected. The way it is pieced together is done very well to the point where you forget it is not told in a linear fashion. One other reason this movie stood out so much was the amazing acting. All the characters seemed like they were real people. I was watching a man flashing back throughout the past few months of his life, I was watching real people interact and was invested in what happened to them.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say that I am a sucker for a romantic comedy. But that is what made this film so great, it was not just a romantic comedy, it was a un-romantic romantic comedy. Watching this film for the first time, it refreshed my love for romantic comedies.
What I really enjoyed about the movie was that it was “not a love story.” It was nice to see a solid, honest movie about the reality of a failed relationship. Most relationships fail, and I enjoyed how it juxtaposed the bitterness after the breakup with the happiness during the relationship. I was also very glad that the movie was open from the beginning about the relationship failing; by removing the drama of not knowing whether or not Tom and Summer will wind up together, it allows the audience to sympathize with Tom and his fragmented memories of the different stages of the relationship. It isn’t a movie about a love story; it’s a movie about a guy remembering his love and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t right for him. That catharsis is something rare in movies; normally someone gets their heart broken and finds solace somewhere else. Most movies aren’t concerned with the more complicated internal struggle that a lot of people go through in the wake of a difficult breakup. I really enjoyed the scene where Tom began remembering things we saw earlier in the movie, but with additional context to show how Summer wasn’t as perfect as he was remembering earlier. Anyone who has been in a long relationship has probably had to go through a similar process of remembering what really happened rather than just the best parts that they’ve now lost. While I did think that Tom meeting Autumn at the end was too contrived and fairy-tale romantic, it was not enough to ruin the overall strength of the movie.
ReplyDeleteJohn David Agliano
C05580571
500 days of summer is a movie about the intense relationship, or rather the friendship, between Tom and Summer and is being told through 500 days where there are good moments but unfortunately, more bad ones for their relationship.
ReplyDeleteWhat interested me the most were all the original aspects of the movie. The calendar, which shows which of the 500 days the current scenes portrayed, helped the audience keep track on where in the movie we were. You don’t have to think and be confused that much, even though the movie is moving back and forth in time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is thus a movie en the same genre however it differs to 500 days of summer as the story confuses the audience. Moreover, there are different sequences in 500 days of summer that is made in a very impressive way, often to emphasize Toms feelings.
I also believe the actors’ do a good job throughout the movie. The main character Tom, played by Joseph Gordon – Levitt, is especially impressive as he is portrayed successfully as happy, angry, sad and insecure. Zooey Deschanel plays Summer, and she also is playing well as the director wants to portray her as what Tom calls her “a unique girl”.
Another thing I like about the movie that even though is a classic love story movie, it is occasionally very funny, and there is a few times the awkward moments really make you laugh. All in all a sad story, however a good movie and I would recommend others to see it.
Expectations
ReplyDeleteMy expectations of 500 Days of Summer when I saw the scene with Summer and Tom on the bench was that the movie would be about how they met and got married. Despite the narrator saying that this was not a love story, I thought it would be anyway. I'm glad that the movie ended differently than I expected. Even though this wasn't the typical boy-meets-girl and they fall in love story, it was still a love story nontheless. 500 Days of Summer was a different kind of love story. It was more realistic because many people can relate with falling in love with the wrong person and the heart break associated with it.
Playing with Genre
I think that this movie did a good job of mixing the romance with comedy. It wasn't too comical or too romantic to the point where it was corny. The movie had its funny moments like when Tom would go to his younger sister for advice. Usually the female lead would be the one heart broken and asking her friends for advice, so that made it funny. When I first heard that this movie was an unromantic romantic comedy, I didn't understand how something could and couldn't be at the same time. I thought that maybe it was just a comedy since the romance seemded to cancel each other out. After seeing the movie, I understand that the movie is unromantic because it wasn't a typical love story being told and romantic on Tom's part because he wanted so badly to be in a relationship and to be loved by Summer.
Other Thoughts
I felt really bad for Tom. I know that Summer made it clear that she did not want a boyfriend, but she should have known that Tom's feeling for her would grow deeper the more they spend time with each other. If she did want something serious with Tom then she should have never stepped beyond the boundary of friendship. She was wrong to play with Tom's heart like that. I was glad to see that he met a new love interest toward the end of the movie.
500 Days of Summer showed the mysteries of love and romantic chemistry between a guy and a girl. I liked how Tom and Summer's relationship was not like the usual ones we are use to. The film showed their good and bad days, what went wrong, and how they could have worked everything out. Another unique thing about the film was the way it was structured, which gave way for a funny interplay on the good and the bad of relationships, and the deconstruction of how love grows. I'm use to film narratives about relationships coming from a female, but it was nice to hear it from a guy. It was also kind of funny how the next girl Tom had a date with was named after one of the seasons as well. Although Tom and Summer did not end up together in the end, they both learned valuable lessons from each other.500 Days of Summer definitely proved to me that it was not going to be the typical love story.
ReplyDeleteWephnirva Nonord
C07404423
Even though 500 Days of Summer is not necessarily a love story, it definitely has a lot to do with love. In the end Tom does not get the girl, Summer but he does end up meeting Autumn. I have seen this movie several times and each time I see it I seem to like it more. It's probably the witty jokes throughout the movie that does it. I also really enjoyed how the movie does not go day by day, instead the director chose to skip around to random days but that in turn makes the movie more enjoyable. The reversal of the typical role males and females play in romantic comedies is also interesting. Tom really tries to keep the relationship intact and does almost anything while Summer does not really know what she wants until the end when you find out that she is marrying someone else. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone especially fans of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt because they both do a great job in this movie.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Restrepo
C09414973
I find the snarkiness of the introduction to the film incredibly comical - the author’s note to the audience saying that the story is not based on real life or any specific person, and then they explicitly acknowledging Jenny Beckman as a ‘Bitch.’ The narrator explaining that, although 500 Days of Summer may seem like a normal romantic movie of “boy meets girl,” it is not true and warns us that “this is not a love story.” I think this is refreshing because it does not give the entire plot away, but it lets the viewer know that they should not expect the conventional events of a romance or relationship. The ending to the film is particularly refreshing because it is unexpected compared to most movies, like the narrator warned us in the beginning. Although it is somewhat depressing, I like that the ending is different because it is more realistic than the typical conclusion and happily ever after crap you see in most movies. I also liked that the order of the film was out of sequence. The art between scenes with the tree changing seasons (depending on Tom’s mood) and what day (in parenthesis) representing Tom and Summer’s relationship was also an interesting way to express time.
ReplyDeleteHolly Bensur
C09668372
There was a certain point of time, where all of a sudden, experimental romantic movies started to stand on the center of movie era stage. This one, however, is a little bit different. Romantic movies targeting youth segments usually tend to have their main characters, especially girl characters, in the shape of what people always say “tough appearance but sweet core”. Summer, however, is not. Summer, she is the horrible female who owns the angle’s beauty but actually cares nothing about others.
ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning of 500 days of summer, there was a subtitle showing up “especially for u ,jen beckham. Bitch.” It is said that the whole movie is based on the movie director’s personal experience. Obviously, this guy is not over her yet. At least he was not when directing the movie. The ending scene of Tom’s meeting a potential new date Autumn could be a faulty stroke in this whole painting; but once relating it to the director’s personal story, it appeals to be such a cute part. It seems the director was indicating, summer left and autumn came, yea I was miserable about you but you are just nothing more important than the seasons passing by me. It is only 500 days since I fell for you to I started to hate you and now I am finally over you. Just 500 days, not a big deal. Be the subject material for my movie for my works, and good bye.
Feng Yang
C06087996
500 Days of Summer is classified as a romantic comedy. But the movie’s narration starts off by saying that this movie is not a love story. The narration says this because Summer is never truly in a romantic relationship while Tom is desperately in love. It’s Tom’s dedication and love for Summer that turns the movie into the romance it is.
ReplyDeleteThe structure of the movie is non-chronologic. It starts off with a count down (500 days) and skips back and fourth between the beginning, end and middle of the relationship. The director, Marc Webb, does an excellent job telling Tom and Summer’s story in a non-linear format. This format fits Summer’s mind because she seems to be very indecisive and changes her mind constantly. Also, since we already know how the movie is going to end (with the end of the relationship) we share, since the beginning sympathy with the main character Tom.
The transitions between time is very interesting. Not only do they skip around back and forth, but they also skip back and forth between the same location and setting only at different times. For example, there is the scene of Tom entering the elevator super happy, then, with the change of time, in the next scene he enters it sad and hopeless. Also, when the text of how many days in the relationship has passed appears, the setting and coloring in the background fit the mood and feelings of the characters.
Many who watch this movie leave it saying it has a depressing ending. I left the movie not thinking it was sad at all. Summer did tell Tom since the beginning that she did not want a serious relationship and I think he should have understood. Also, the movie ends with Tom meeting a new lady who agrees to have lunch with him—therefore a happy ending.
Marc Pollack
ReplyDeleteC10553848
To be honest, one of the movies that I was most unexcited about watching, coming into this year was 500 Days of Summer. After watching this movie, I can say so certain that my opinion has changed dramatically. Sure it is a corky love tale, but it isn’t what I would call a “chick flick”. One of the most interesting parts of this film, is when the director, Marc Webb, played the reality of the situation compared to what Tom expected the situation to be. Another interesting aspect of this film was the attitude in which the two main characters were perceived to have. The roles were almost reversed in the sense that Summer was the laid back one in the relationship who let the answers come to her, as opposed to Tom who was always wanting to go the extra mile, and pushed his feelings for her in such an outlandish way that it almost freaked her out. Usually there should be an even balance within the relationship door that consists of honesty, integrity, and respect. Another interesting point at the film, that I found to be a clever idea by the writers, is how at the vey end, Tom finds a new woman that he may want to begin a relationship has the name of Autumn. Overall, as quirky as the movie is, I would absolutely recommend it.
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I was very disappointed when I heard we were going to be watching this move in class. It is an “un” romantic comedy and I have always seen these as extremely boring, cliché, and too “lovey”. 500 days of summer was no different. The genre expectation made me think that Tom and Summer were going to end up together in the end. (Like every romantic comedy). The beginning story line and how they both did not know what they wanted in a relationship is typical in a romantic comedy and more grounds for my prediction of it being no different than any other romantic comedy. I was surprised to find out in the end that my prediction was wrong though. Tom ends up meeting another girl, Autumn and his ex-lover Summer gets a husband before this. This changed the movie completely in my opinion as it made it unique and in a way, more realistic. This made the film better but all in all I still did not enjoy it very much. I felt that there were a couple weird and unnecessary scenes such as the IKEA scene where Summer and Tom pretended they were married (false foreshadowing-kind of cruel!). That scene particularly was unnecessary especially if in the end, they did not end up together. Although I still did not like the film overall, it was better than other “normal” romantic comedies.
Erik Rueckle-c10166645
The movie "500 Days of Summer" was really interesting romantic movie. Usually, romantic movie has typical story; someone fall in love, get trouble with, conquer conflict and love again. However, "500 Days of Summer" has different procedure and conclusion compared with other typical romantic movies such as "50 First Date." At the end, main couple in the movie breaks up each other and goes back to their own lives. Such conclusion was fresh but a little bit uncomfortable for me. While watching this movie, I was really happy and envious for main characters’ relationship. Before ending, I really hoped that they married like typical romantic movie. However, they were just broke up and that was the end. After ending, I became sad and dejected. Maybe, this kind of ending could be good for film critics to evaluate but horrible for audience to accept conclusion. Not just untypical ending, but the progress of story was also interesting. A lot of movies usually tell stories in forward way. For instance, they tell the first day of movie at first time and last day at the end. However, 500 days of summer has abnormal story structure. In this movie, it showed last day of this movie at beginning part. It started story with showing the part when main couple already broke up at conclusion and changed to the scene of first day when they met each other. Such progress sometimes made me confuse to figure out what story is going on in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe movie 500 Days of Summer, I think is a distinct film most of all because of the end they don’t end together, the contrary they end making their own life apart, in most of the romantic comedies the ends tend to be a happy-together ending. I thing that the main theme where the movie enrolls is around urban places, for example when Summer showed Toms her favorite place in the city, that was like a park where you had an amazing view (architecture), also the scenes are develop around work, for example the scene when Tom saw Summer in the office for first time. During the film there are a lot of couple conflicts, but since my point of view Tom always plays the part of victim, for example when they break up and Tom sister calmed him down, or also when he saws Summer again with engagement ring and he got into an even heavier depression. Also I think that the style of this movie isn’t a romantic comedy, I think the whole film is a blend of romantic comedy, a style of documentary, plus narrative. Also is very interesting how the Author worked with the names of the characters, is really intriguing how Tom meets Autumn, that means fall, which is the next season after Summer. So here you can see how the Author plays with the names, showing that Tom is going to move on with this girl that follows Summer.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer is romantic comedy about the main character, Tom, who falls crazy in love for a woman who doesn't believe in love. Although it is a romantic comedy, it is not a love story, and that is said at the beginning of the movie. Summer attracted the attention of every man, and for Tom, it was love at first sight. Tom felt that Summer was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Although Summer did not believe in relationships and love. I feel shame for Tom that he ended up being in love alone and Summer did not demonstrated nothing. This was very hard on him because you could see how he suffered a lot. Also, it was very easy for Summer to keep on going when she broke up with Tom and he could not find any one who can replace her until the end but it was not clear. It was funny that the person who gave him advise was his little sister.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this movie so much because the fact that it wasn't a typical movie where the main characters end up together. I would never imagine that Summer will up ended marrying another guy. Also, the ironic part where Tom at the end met another girl named "Autumn" which is another season of the year. This was supposedly meaning that he finally got over Summer.
Sarit Benatar
C10202193
Jeff Kaminski - C09409163
ReplyDeleteThis was a great movie and was a lot of fun. Very clever and artful. Normally I am not one for artsy movies that do not fit the traditional romantic comedy to a "T", however, this movie does an exceptional job. I enjoyed the non-conformality of the plot line. You believe you know how the movie will play out and end, yet the movie flips the script and shocks you almost. A cute movie that is delightful to watch from beginning to end. Even the sadder scenes still keep you engaged and wanting to view more. The musical content in the movie was also a pleasure and complimented the film quite nicely in my opinion. The unconventional pieces of the film were wonderful to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
I think that I must be the only person on the planet who does not like this movie. This impression comes from the fact that when I bring up "500 days of summer" among friends all seem to universally swoon and start talking about how wonderful this movie is. For me, I found it to be annoying at best. I felt that the jumps from happiness to frustration and sadness were not "cute and quirky" but bi-polar-esk. I think that I also found the "lie" that we are led to believe that Tom and Summer will be united in the end was a disappointment. While not every romantic comedy has to end with them together to be a good movie (e.g. The Breakup), I think that leading the audience to believe this will happen only leads to a disappointing ending where it doesn't happen.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, there were moments of "500 days of Summer" in which I did enjoy. The scene where Tom is dancing and singing in the street was enjoyable (although felt out of place with the rest of the movie).
Michael Lerer
ReplyDeleteThe movie 500 Days of Summer was all about reversing common roles and breaking social norms. For example they switched the common role of the emotionally distant male to having the emotional distant female character. Also there is the fact that they made a romantic comedy that is neither a love story nor is it funny in some scenes. They intentionally put in some scenes that were sad and distinctively not intended to be funny. Another way that they defy the norms is by not telling the story in chronological order. Instead it shows the story one day at a time and not in order, announcing the number of the day at the beginning of each day. The biggest shot they take at the common romantic comedy is that in the end it is the emotionally cold character that is right. In this movie the cold character, ironically named Summer, tells Tom that she doesn’t want an emotional relationship so when he expects one from her, he is wrong. Even more ironically after their terrible break up, Summer falls in real love with another person and ends her role in the movie by telling Tom that someday he’ll find the true love of his life. However they do end the movie with a comedic moment where Tom meets another girl and decides to give it another chance. The comedy is that the girl’s name is Autumn and the movie ends by saying Autumn day 1.
I think this movie is about just silly love story, but it is a very realistic fatalism movie. Especially, I like the summer’s mind at the first sight which is ‘ I want to live for me not to be one of someone cause we are young.’ However, Tom believes the destiny of love and summer is the girl whom he is doomed to love. Summer think tom as the boy who just passes in her life and takes a small part in her life but, she does her best to love Tom and be faithful to every moment when they love. In the end she married other man and Tom met autumn who has very similar taste and personality with tom. It was very shocking ending because I believed summer and tom will be good in the whole time of movie. Also I liked the music in the movie and the scene was very beautiful. It was very beautiful movie although it taught me the sadness of love
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteNate Jennings
I initially expected this film to be another boring and uninteresting romantic comedy that had generally the same plot as other movies in this genre that I’ve seen. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this refreshing new take on the stereotypical romantic comedy. Typically these types of movies are way too predictable and always tend to have the same plot. Where two people meet, are immediately attracted to each other, than there is conflict in their relationship, and than finally there is a final resolution where they get back together. Whereas in 500 days of summer, they explicitly state in the beginning of the movie that “this is not a love story.” It’s also a warped version of this genre because the Tom character is deeply in love with Summer but she doesn’t want a serious relationship. Although Summer has a fling with him for a good amount of time, the relationship turns sour because she simply loses any type of feelings for him. She also takes the audience and Tom by complete surprise when she marries another man after there breakup. This is not the usual plot for any movie of this genre , which makes it very appealing to me. It also recreates genre expectations because it applies more to reality where sometimes relationships don’t always have a happy ending because there are just too many problems to cope with. This seems like more of a documentary of how most relationships with a potential love interest work out in real life. It was also interesting to me to see the different points in there relationship showing you the high and low points. All these parts in the movie have high emotions with no outcome, which is against the tradition romantic comedy genre.
Christian Casas
ReplyDeleteC10592802
500 Days of summer is one of my favorite movies. It is witty, the setting is beautiful, and the characters are type of characters we can fall in love with these days. Since the movie is centered on an important relationship, I think the majority of the audience can become identified with it and become even fonder of the movie. The main character is so charismatic that the audience wants to continue getting to know him. He is charming, sweet and funny, and the girlfriend is the one that is perceived as the strange one. I also liked how the director incorporated his interest in architecture, which would come up every so often. This is definitely the type of movie that I would watch numerous times, and in actuality, I have. Each time I have seen it, I have found a new joke or new scene that quickly becomes my favorite. I also think it was a great idea regarding the fact that it ended in an optimistic tone. If it had been pessimistic, it would be too heartbreaking. The end does not say much, just that he meets summer, the applicant at the architectural firm. Even though it does not say much, it still makes the audience happy that there is a change and a new outlet on life.
500 days of summer
ReplyDelete"And Sally's 500 day" is actually a kind of analysis of love to do. So, "and Sally's 500 day" the story of the original conception, is in a state of anxiety and sadness began, Scott · noe of tut was the failure by love, become the final content-although noe of foundation was from heartbreak in slowly is tut recovery, but webb has been operating for a long courtship. Together they carefully think back to love may or should be some shape, but sometimes, somehow, reality and imagination is often has the very big in and out, so noe of tut and webber couldn't help but think; to know, in such a physical world, is also a love supreme remaining young man? The love of idealistic version, how to display the out, can have not seen before from the realistic? So Tom the role immediately was born, he of the power of love and mysterious place, has a crazy, enthusiastic and no justification worship than the woman also goes beyond the goddess of love-and Tom with Sally's form in the this movie, he is total to her crush, but Sally mo but ever-present denied Tom believe everything. But the two writers Scott · noe of us; and Michael H weber interested can not only only is Tom this man, also including exists in his memory heart activity, especially when he reviewed his and Elizabeth between the real everything that happened, very has the dreamy color.
A small-budget independent film, but exciting enough the film will make you laugh, break your heart. because they simply can not meet each other's emotional needs. Tom did not self-confident, he learned profession isbuilt, but the status quo, greeting card design; emotionally hesitant to need a buddy to help him to convey his own mind; bar end of the party, in the face of Summer asked , he was afraid and did not dare to declare, just watched each other and walked away; he metwith her in the copy room, has not stepped forward, the result is the Summer take the initiative to kiss him; Summer room, open to Tom heart about that lonely dreams, which marks the gap between the two have completely disappeared, Summer him into their hearts, but he was at a loss, tangle afraid of doubt, do not dare to step forward. When they meet again, Tom, in conversation and Summer has finally solved the knot, all relieved. There are small details in the film, Summer take the initiative to just hold Tom's hand, which is a hint of the feelings of very deep changes in the lens of Tom'sface, he certainly knows this implies that, if he wants to Summer can become a lover, but also have good times as in the past, but he did not he start to finish is very indifferent.Summer understanding after they got up to leave, when Tom stood up and Summermake good wishes and hope she will happy. At this point, the story of two peoplepainting on to a successful conclusion, always be the friend of the parallel line.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer is one of those romantic comedy movies that goes against most of the love story movies that are out there right now. Instead of being sappy and unrealistic, this movie really portrays what happens in most relationships. The couple goes through fights and make ups and eventually ends up breaking up. Instead of being like the romantic comedy of "The Ugly Truth", this movie reminded me more of the romantic comedy movie of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". This reminds me of 500 days of summer because both movies follow the couple through their break up and how they are constantly fighting but has the strong underlying theme of how love conquers all and it greatly discusses what love is and how it affects society. The movie had many funny moments and talked about love so it can fall into the genre of romantic comedy even though it clearly states it is not like most romantic comedy movies. Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot and would definitely recommend it and even watch it again.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra Ball
C07809270
500 days of summer
ReplyDelete“It’s not a romantic story, but at the same time it is”. The movie 500 days of summer is unique because it is the type of movie that you watch and you expect something obvious to happen and all of the sudden it doesn’t. As a matter a fact in this movie the papers switch, when the girl is usually the one tying to make it happen this time it’s the boy. My favorite movies are like these. It has good actors, and I identify myself with Summer (Zooey Deschanel). I’m in a point of my life where I don’t believe a lot in love and I am very independent and minding my own business always, but I still have my romantic side that I shared with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I somehow relate this movie with The Tourist because the director did trick the audience with the scenes making them believe one thing and ending up on a whole different thing. Even though they are two completely different stories I got involved equally in both. Tom’s scenes are like my mind functions, its broken into pieces and I just think back and forward, I loved the nonlinear story, it made it more interesting. It was the first time I’ve seen this movie and I’ve always heard about it. The scenes fitted perfectly with every situation and the music fascinated me. One of my favorites songs played Quelqu'un m'a dit from Carla Bruni.
I did not like this movie, in fact i had tried watching this movie about 3 or 4 times before the class screening and never got passed 15 minutes of it. i couldn't. i was way too bored. yet at the class screening i forced myself to stay and the movie did get better, more interesting and even funny. see its not a love story, i loved that summer married another man because it is not typical romantic comedy, its more realistic and films need this. i thought the director did a good job with this movie and made it much better than i expected.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to list my favorite types of films romantic comedies would not be very high up on the list all. Having said that I do think that “500 Days of Summer” is definitely one of the better ones to come out in the past few years. I think what I liked most about the film is that it goes against the one-dimensional traditional direction of a romantic comedy by creating a relationship between Tom and Summer that was able to be perceived by audiences as realistic and authentic. Often times in romantic comedies the romance between the two lead characters is too much of a fairy tale to actual exist in society, but this film does a great job of creating a relationship that sadly anyone who has been in love can directly relate to. Webb accented the growth of Tom as a character by using a non-chronological structure for the film. The structure also allowed the viewer to experience the ups and downs throughout the film. I was also very impressed with the acting in the film and I think Zooey Deschanel was particularly impressive in role as Summer. After seeing the film I cant imagine anyone else in her role, she really made it her own
ReplyDeleteEven though at the beginning the narrator tells you this is not a love story, you still don’t quite know what to expect. Very few romantic comedies are able to nicely blend comedic and emotional strength into an interesting movie, but somehow this film manages to pull it off. While typical movies of this genre follow a standard formula, ending with a break up and then the couple getting back together, this one was willing to explore a relationship that didn’t work out in the end. It was a clever change of pace from other romantic comedies. It was interesting to see the male lead Tom as the more feminine type, while Summer was definitely the more masculine of the two. It was cool how story was not told in a chronological order. When Tom is looking back on the relationship trying to determine what went wrong, the film jumped between different days and showing the drastic changes in feelings that Summer had towards Tom and vice-versa. The use of color I felt added greatly to those scenes of great emotion. When Tom and Summer were feeling good about their relationship there are bright a vibrant colors surrounding them. When they’re not, then everything is gray and gloomy. The director really knew what he was doing when directing these characters. The casting of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt I believe is what made the film go from good to great. Their chemistry was perfect and I’m not sure if these characters could have been played better by any other actors. I would highly recommend 500 Days of Summer to anybody looking for a different spin on romantic comedies.
ReplyDeleteThe boys think that is a thing called fate. An emotion can be described as love. One encounter is meant to be.So when Tom saw the Summer, he genuineness of told myself, this person is the love of their life.Silly nostalgia eyes to follow her shadow. His anxious speculations her every phrase. He can not extricate themselves occupied.So everything about her is beautiful.The black hair Think before you speak sip mouth. Chest, heart-shaped birthmark. Laugh giggle voice. A deep sleep from the look of the past.Even all the landscape are subjective given the bright colors.The world no longer exist, only you.
ReplyDeleteThe girls never believe in the fairy tale about love. Everything is just unreal feeling. Nothing is fate. Nothing can be described to true love. One encounter is meant to be.
The relationship of meaning just have fun,. Nothing more.
So when they are inside the Ikea fun slapstick, she will tell him, well ... I do not Hoo, hoo, the get into something serious ... is that the ok?
Tom bitter laugh, but quickly said sure. Because he or illusions, the day Summer heart wall finally collapsed. Only because of their own.
So when Summer brought him to their own space, he was naive to think that finally the wall crack a silent.
So when Summer told him the I have never told anyone else before, he is almost 100% sure, in their heart to the same status exists.
However, the fantasy, after all is an illusion.
Tom: I just Hoo, hoo, know .... what are we?
Summer: I don't know .... well I don't care. I'm happy, aren't you happy?
Tom: ... yea .. I am happy.
After 300 days, anxiety finally become strong.
No longer sink joke and laugh. No longer like the same singer and joy. The game no longer unbridled swearing.
So she's all become repulsive.
Black hair. Think before you speak sip mouth. Chest, heart-shaped birthmark. Laugh giggle voice. A deep sleep from the look of the past.
Finally broke up. For unknown reasons.
This period is identified as a doomed romance, and finally painful, unbearable, and the end.
However, the story does not end.
500 days, they met again.
The boys finally realized that the original really is fate. Nothing can be described to true love. One encounter is meant to be.
The girls suddenly realize, in fact, there is a thing called fate. An emotion can be described as love. One encounter is meant to be.
How ironic. The same period of romance, and allows two people took a very different way.
Tom painted the ideal building design on the blackboard.
Summer wear someone else fed to the ring.
In fact, why bother to pursue is not fate, to true love, or meant to be.
Or that in fact people are so naive creatures.
When immersing himself in love, will firmly believe that their feelings are very real and very firm, very durable.
But once broken, will be discouraged, a moment think that the description should be all about love die.
In fact, everything lies only in yourself.
We really love our own.
So the final analysis, the attitude of the love only for self-comfort.
I love you so it must be true love will be able to adhere to a long time will be able to repel all difficulties.
Now I do not love you so love, in fact, a lie can not have anything forever.
The next time, it is possible that we will very unpromising back to the conference The mindset of the previous.
Do not have the romance as the end of the world busted their ass and the shouting is this person in addition to this I'll never fall in love with other people.
When Summer is gone, Autumn is here.
500 Days of Summer is not the typical romantic comedy. At the beginning of the film the narrator warns the audience by telling us that it is not the typical love story and that the characters will not end up together. Even though I had been warned, while I was watching the movie I still wanted them to end up together and was hopeful that they would. Overall, I liked the movie. It didn’t follow genre expectations but it offered a fresh, new perspective of the genre. The “boy meets girl” formula was included but the way they met and started having their romance was not the typical way. It seemed like the girl was stronger and more in control rather than the boy being the strong personality. The roles were reversed. The girl, Summer, was the insensitive one and the boy, Tom, was the sensitive one when usually it is the other way around. Also, some settings were not usual. For example, they went to Ikea and acted as if they were in their house. Usually, romantic comedies use settings such as the beach and places that are more romantic than Ikea. The editing was also very different. There was a narrator and the plot moved between the past and the present. I thought this type of editing made it more entertaining. In the end, I was happy that it was not the typical love story. I liked that 500 Days of Summer was more realistic. It wasn’t a love story but at the same time it was because it is something that could happen to anyone.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer was not a typical romantic movie like I expected. It’s about love, but it displays how love is not always easy or perfect. I liked this movie because it’s not like every other romantic movie where you watch a couple fall in love and ends happily ever after. It follows Tom as he goes falls in love with Summer, tries to capture her love, and then breaks up and finally moves on, but not in that order. I liked how the scenes were out of order, I think it made the movie more interesting to watch. I also thought it was a good change that the male in the movie Tom was the hopeless romantic falling in love and the female Summer was the one that did not care for love. It’s clever that Tom falls in love with Summer, and once he realizes she’s not in love with him and will never be, he finds his true love named Autumn. Although in the end the relationship between Tom and Summer did not work out, it helped them each find true love, because it taught Summer to love for the first time and taught Tom to stop chasing the wrong woman and led him to Autumn.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer is by far my favorite romantic comedy that I have seen. One of the main reasons for this was that it deviated from the typical format of a romantic comedy, which seems to literally be the same for every movie. Usually these movies involve a guy falling for a girl, them becoming romantically involved, some conflict splitting them apart, and them getting back together in the end. 500 days of Summer completely ignored this format, even just with the basic way it told the story. The movie jumped around many of the different days (500 of them) of Summer and Tom’s relationship. This kept the movie fresh and interesting and made the characters seem more real, as you were getting very different sides to each character at different points in the relationship. Also, it was really bold and different that things did not work out for them in the end, which is something you never see in romantic comedies. This was just another element that gave the movie a more realistic feel in the end, and it allowed it to be both funny and heartfelt at different times, while never seeming overly perfect. Overall it made the movie infinitely more enjoyable for me than any other romantic comedy I have seen.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I got the opportunity to watch 500 Days of Summer since I wanted to see it when it was airing trailers but never really took the time to go see it. However I am not as happy as I thought I was going to be after seeing it. I am glad they made a nice twist and got rid of the expected romantic movie that was shown in the trailer (almost right away with the opening line). Still, they synched so well together sometimes they seemed like they should have been together. This romantic comedy I think put more of a focus on the romance (even though it didnt work out) making the comedy part sort of inappropriate. Still I appreciate the story taking the license to be different and it resulted in a nice, although sometimes very boring, movie.
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer is a wonderfully fun and humorous film, all the while being sad at times. It turns the table of almost every romantic comedy you have ever seen and the male Tom is the one that is falling head over heels for the girl Summer. I believe this adds to the popularity of the film, as a male if I hear the word romantic comedy I am immediately turned off. But I believe the twist on the classic romantic comedy formula is what makes it appealing.
ReplyDeleteWhat first caught my eye was in the very beginning of the film when a caution is issued that this is not a love story. Unfortunately this is very true; it is unfortunate because I felt for the character Tom and how his relationship with Summer did not pan out as he wanted. This sad tone is offset by humor, which adds another dimension to the film.
Another aspect that made this film unique was that it was not sequential, as you watched the film you knew Tom was doomed before he was which made it quite a sad affair. On second thought I don’t think this is a romantic comedy at all, that is a cruel classification.
500 Days of Summer is a wonderfully fun and humorous film, all the while being sad at times. It turns the table of almost every romantic comedy you have ever seen and the male Tom is the one that is falling head over heels for the girl Summer. I believe this adds to the popularity of the film, as a male if I hear the word romantic comedy I am immediately turned off. But I believe the twist on the classic romantic comedy formula is what makes it appealing.
ReplyDeleteWhat first caught my eye was in the very beginning of the film when a caution is issued that this is not a love story. Unfortunately this is very true; it is unfortunate because I felt for the character Tom and how his relationship with Summer did not pan out as he wanted. This sad tone is offset by humor, which adds another dimension to the film.
Another aspect that made this film unique was that it was not sequential, as you watched the film you knew Tom was doomed before he was which made it quite a sad affair. On second thought I don’t think this is a romantic comedy at all, that is a cruel classification.
Hiram Aparicio
ReplyDeleteC06979667
500 Days of Summer
This movie was hilarious! Very light hearted and enjoyable. I laughed uncontrollably when she asks if they need anything and Tom replies "I think you know what I need" in a very non-smooth tone of voice, and then follows up with "toner" after she looks at him like he's a freak. I think this movie works because many people can identify with the characters of Tom and Summer. I have to say, the movie does have many cheesy points, but it didn't interfere too severely with my viewing experience. When he gets laid and suddenly his reflection looks like Han Solo makes up for the cheesy moments. The non-linear structure of the movie's form allowed for very interesting cuts. in one cut Tom would be happy and suddenly the next jumps to several days later and he is miserable. It was also fun imagining I was watching a prequel to Inception and the Avengers. They do some very interesting things with the shots that are in black and white and the way they are arranged as well as with split screen shots. In this film they often gear towards very vulgar jokes which is basically what made it good for me. The acting, i thought, was very good in this movie. It was very easy to get lost in the characters and not think too much about acting method. It also has nice commentary on love and coincidences.
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteMatthew Head
I disliked this movie, I did not like the non linear structure. I feel that this was the biggest downturn to this movie apart from it not being funny. I dont think that romantic comedies should try and entertain the audience through editing. Personally I think that this movie was trying to hard. I think that people go to see romantic comedies to be easily entertained. I don't like that this movie is slightly more realistic than other romantic movies. These movies are supposed to be like a fairy tale and entrance the audience into believing something that could never happen.
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
ReplyDelete500 Days of Summer" is a small independent movie, but exciting enough the film will make you laugh, break your heart, make you thoughtful. Many people say that this is a cure for romance movies, but deep romance and find themselves unable to have seen the movie brought back painful memories, the film is more suitable for those who walked romance, know how to put down people.
A beautiful woman as the core of the whole movie seems to be a used up the plot, but Mark Webb gained a lot of new ideas. The film interspersed by scattered clues, tells a story about the girlfriend to get rid of the men how to recall the past time. Tang Mu Hansen to write greeting cards a young man, full of whimsy, hope to get the love life. Summer Finn is a beautiful wild creature, like an independent, and do not want to be bound by any people's feelings.
A lot of people will spend the encounter of two people know each other as predestined fate convinced. The dictates of fate, the hero and heroine meet, Tom saw the Summer first moment she is the love of his life, and she appeared languid glow of infinite vitality. When the men encountered the Italian woman, the eyes would not leave her, he always concerned about, fascinated.
In love who is wrong, does not provide for how to pay, whether or not to be rewarded. We should not define whether true love of others, whether it is worth, but among the living in love, they want to know how to cherish, learn to take the initiative, regardless of when, do not decide, share sweet will slip away from us. Remember: Love is to promote self and others more mature, and a willingness to self-improvement.
From great novels to video games, there is an increasing amount of non-linear story lines being utilized. Not only do they generate interest from the audience, but they are simply different than the normal ways to that stories are told. 500 Days of Summer, a film about romance, focuses on the relationship between the protagonist, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Summer Finn, Zooey Deschanel. The film successfully utilizes a non-linear storyline in order to better convey the current life situation of Tom Hansen, the protagonist.
ReplyDeleteA non-linear story structure applied to film is undoubtedly effective due to the fact that it resembles how the human brain functions. When one tells a story to another, it is common to jump forward to certain events and then jump back once one remembers all the details of the story. This occurs not just in story telling, but also generally within human memory. Humans often have flashbacks to past events and their recollection of the event may be disfigured and out of order. In 500 Days of Summer, the audience is taken through a non-linear narrated story in which the audience visits different times during the relationship of Tom and Summer. By the structure of the film being closely similar to how the mind functions, the audience reflects upon their own past and thinks about their own relationships which ultimately generates an emotional connection between the audience and Tom.
500 Days of Summer:
ReplyDeleteI’m usually not a big fan of romantic comedies, but 500 Days of Summer was quite entertaining. Instead of being in standard form, with a clear beginning, middle and end, it rather was a non-linear narrative, meaning the movie was full of going back and forth. Nonetheless, this style was used effectively so as not to confuse the viewer. The director also implemented other unconventional aspects such as black and white and split screen. I also thought that the soundtrack fit the tone of the film perfectly, with every song matching the mood of what was happening on screen. Indeed, 500 Days of Summer is primarily about all the ins and outs of a modern, 21st century young relationship. However, what makes it stand out is the fact that the two main characters do not act like their typical gender roles are supposed to. The guy acts like what the usual female is supposed to be, and the leading female actress acts like what the typical male is supposed to be.
Ting Wang
ReplyDelete500 days of summer is an offbeat romantic comedy. It is about a young man who falls for a girl who does not believe in the existence of true love. Mark Webb is the director of 500 days of summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zoey Deschanel. Tom (Gordon Levitt) earns his living through writing for greeting cards- being an aspiring architect. His boss employs a new secretary for himself. Upon encountering her, Tom explores how the two of them have very in common, although she seems completely out of his league. The both love the Smiths, and they both are fans of the artist Magritte- as for the starters. Tom is highly infatuated by Summer. All he can think about is her. He praises the belief of soul mates, and he thinks that he has found his. Sadly, Summer isn’t looking for romance since for her, it merely is the stuff of fairy tales. With all his might and courage, Tom convinces Summer that their love is real, and that they are perfect for each other.
A Danish director, Lars Von Trier, directs this movie. His work is playfully profound, such that it will leave you smiling warmly. The Five Obstructions is both an antidote and a variation to these spectacles of abjection and on their themes of cruelty and domination. Lars Von Trier has depicted the sadistic abuse of a defenseless good-hearted woman. Mr. Von Trier was obsessed with the 12-minute film of Jorgan Leth- ‘The Perfect Human’. Portions of this film are in incorporated in the ‘Five Obstructions’. All the actors filmed in black and white against black backgrounds, is a suave, pseudo-scientific examination of human behavior. The movie combines harsh intimacy with jarring theatricality. The movie was remaked by the older director. First place to reshoot the movie was Cuba, second, it was shot in a slum of Mumbai. While watching the movie, it seems like one is watching two chess masters playing dominoes and a series of therapy sessions being spied. The movie is directed in 4 languages being English, Danish, French and Spanish.
ReplyDeleteThe story begins with a boy met his favorite girl, and Tom and Summer which lasted 500 days romance. Story is told by a voice over that slightly ironic, very penetrating but very slow. Summer is a desperate woman for love and do not have any illusions about men. Tom has been living a boring and uninteresting life. Until he encountered a life of true love – Summer, with a hopeless romantic at heart. Here, people will witness a young man to maintain a year and half, unrestrained, unpredictable love the past, but also made the interesting and full of vivid and unique depth analysis
ReplyDelete.
Even in such an overly cynical of modern society, Tom still firmly believes that with all this world there is the kind of fate, splendid love. But he loved Summer, who, however, took a totally negative attitude. Even with completely different views on love, but cannot stop Tom continuing undaunted pursuit of Summer, like a modern version of Don Quixote, has infinite energy and courage. Unfortunately, Summer eventually leaved Tom. When Tom is careful to recall this has to maintain 500 days of "true love". All of a sudden, he realized that he was in love not just a cute, humorous, wise women ... He fell in love with Summer in the reflection of his mind, not an individual, but a wish to understand and read love, still has a touching heart and prevent the world's energy. So Tom, in the 500 days of memories and flashback screen, constantly cruising, looking and searching, wants to get the original appearance of love.
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteThe film is a story of boy meets girl and it most definitely is not a love story. Love is a major factor in 500 Days of Summer; just not in the way you may anticipate, thinking the film a romantic comedy. Instead, the tale shows us how love, or the lack therefore, can effect two young souls, lost and alone in the world. When Tom meets Summer his life is turned around to pure ecstasy and happiness. What he doesn't know that first day is that when she tells him she isn't looking for anything serious, she means it. Tom's journey to salvation or damnation is one through the rough and tumble world of love and he is its punching bag.
Despite this being a story about heartbreak and the love that caused it and that which heals it, there are a lot of laughs to go with the serious drama. What makes that drama hit so hard is not only the fact that the emotions are all laid out raw and unfiltered, but also because of the levity used to temper it all. The tone is set very early as the film begins with a disclaimer cautioning that any resemblances to real life are merely coincidental, even for the girl on whom Summer is based. This little touch, showing the audience how personal the tale is to the writers adds one more layer to its everyman disposition. We are experiencing something we have all seen in real life, whether to us or someone close—the pain of rejection, the confusion of utopia's demise.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie because of its reality. One cant help but love how realistic this love story is, or lack thereof love story. I especially love how it mirrors one side of the screen of what is happening and the other side of the screen of what Tom wanted to happen. Stellar acting !
I enjoyed watching this very much. Its structurally opposite of the standard rom/com genre. It hints at that standard form throughout the film, but never sticks to it. Through watching this film, i got emotionally invested in the characters, and really cared what happened.
ReplyDeletePlacing the scenes in non sequential order made the film interesting, and gave me an interesting perspective as a view. It really changed how I vied the film, and also helped pull it out of the rom/com genre. I also think tho helped the audience feel more for Tom since we know more about his situation and we know about it for longer.
This was a fantastic movie, and I enjoyed the acting, and the storyline very much.
500 DAYS OF SUMMER
ReplyDeleteThis movie is like the boy version of He's Just Not That Into You. Each excuses she made, is just because she's not that into you. The boy fell in love with a girl who does not want to settle down, the girl just likes him, does not love him. They broke up, the boy suffered a very tough battle, all faith had been destroyed, he feels is his only girl, he's destined to be his true love. But the girl met her fate, met her true love, got married quickly, very happy. At last boy wake up and start all over again. The happy ending is not true. They are really separated, that is true. This is the reason why I love this movie, it is real, it is very encouraging, as it tells all still confused child - he / she is not your true love, not the only one, you just need time.
Selfish, self-willed, proud, Mahogany, etc. these are not the the biggest problem in a romantic relationship. No matter how goo he is, whether he had all the answers, you can never convince yourself one thing, that he does not love you.
I didn't really enjoy this film as much as I had hoped. I'm not a big fan of conflict in stories, there is already plenty of conflict in real life. It was depressing to see a young man go through the tragedy of losing what he thought was everlasting love. So it was more of a genre-related qualm for me. I can see the beauty and art behind the writing of this film.
ReplyDeleteEverything in the world is constantly changing, so it is foolish to assume that anything could be "everlasting." Tom learns this when he meets Autumn (ironically another girl named after a season) Life continues to go through cycles like the seasons, so it is pointless to dwell on things of the past, such as false true-love.
500 days of summer
ReplyDeleteThis is a love story, a lovelorn ending, men fall in love at first sight, the woman just want to have fun, love at first sight and continue to love, just want to have fun of it had begun to disconsolate, love happy time is short, the brokenhearted the pain is so long, idealism in realism is to be so thoroughly before failure, is convinced that the set of ideal, those a good before in reality is so fragile, the reality is so let us to despair. By a long road ahead, only turned the pain chapter, brave march toward the front, to find belong to you real happiness, to find your true love. And I think everyone should face to the love carefully, if you not, you can give other people too much damage, maybe it’s easy for you to forget it. I know that most of people will get out of the brokenhearted, but it still have lots of time, so before you apply for receive sb’s love, you should think carefully and apply for him and if you receive, you should be responsible for this love.
500 Days of Summer
ReplyDeleteC04997305
500 Days of Summer starts out with the warning “this is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront this is not a love story.” This quote lets the audience know this isn’t your typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl over some conflict, boy wins girl back romantic comedy, instead this could be viewed more as a romantic dramedy. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the lovesick Tom who falls madly in love with free-spirited and somewhat heartless Summer played by Zooey Deschanel. The film is presented in a nonlinear narrative format that presents different glimpses into the relationship of Tom and Summer.
500 Days of Summer turns the Romantic Comedy genre on its head to a certain degree. Rather than telling the feel good story of love can conquer all, it tells the story of a love mismatch and a broken hearted man. The film alternates between lighthearted comedy and the sad depression that comes with heartbreak. In the end, however, it appears the boy does get the girl just not the original girl he falls in love with. Although the ending of Tom meeting Autumn keeps the film from entirely cracking the genre, it’s almost necessary to tilt the film’s overall scale to lighthearted rather than depressing which leaves the audience satisfied.
This wasn’t the first time I have seen 500 days, but since the day I saw it “500 days of Summer’’ became one of my favorite movies ever. The movie was brilliantly directed in a very interesting story with a very good soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteYou can feel Joseph Gordon Levitt’s downfall in happiness from this euphoric high of when he is in the relationship to extreme fall as soon as they break up. Zooey Deschanel also plays her part beautifully, as a heartbreaker- a girl you could see yourself falling in love with but a girl that would not reciprocate the feelings.
The story was also handled in a very interesting way with telling you the conclusion first, and then letting you know the events that led up to it. Like some other stories that are structured similarly, 500 Days does a good job of giving you false hope, that maybe something nice will happen when you obviously know that ending is certain and decided upon. One of the most interesting and I feel accurate parts of the movie was the scene with Joseph Gordon Levitt going to Summer’s party and the differentiation of what happened and what he wanted to happen. Also Summer is probably the biggest “bitch” in the history of cinema.
500 days of summer a bit like a kaleidoscope tunnel began gorgeous beautiful, always flash the beautiful stained glass bizarre sense, then out of the tunnel, the front or the light is a soft landing. After watching this child thought, more feel what true love like disgusting looking thing does not exist, the outcomes, like the collision between people but a lot of small universe with each other with bare hands, holding a handful of water, do not know what when the water flow away from the fingers.
ReplyDeleteMovie actor friend said: The best way to forget a woman is to put him into literature. In fact, this is the director's own voice. The reports say that this is the director, for his personal experience of adaptation of the story. The subtitles of the film beginning to see the director to say, especially for u, - jen beckham Bitch. Really funny. This fool should also not forget why we have a story at the end of the arrangement. Possible in real life, the director really is to start a new romance, but that section of the front, discarding the woman for him, can not forget, but to severely remember a lifetime, Bitch. Director and then to use Tom to prove that, go to your summer, there is always autumn. For me, but life passing a Bitch, and I fell in love with you hate you to begin a new romance, but also 500 days. So, they say, literary and art circles of men trifled with, they love sticky, overbearing, conceited, extremely low self-esteem, then, if you take the initiative to-point hand, then the last generation and the next life will be changed as his source of inspiration. Look at the real-world example, Jennifer Aniston john mayer worship, the latter no less with his song to scold Jennifer how needy and clingy. Such examples jason 'mraz his first please do not the tell her, is dedicated to the EX GF Tristan Prettyman's. But he really put down? If you put down, So why inside I'm yours Love, love, love phrase lyrics, and once the title song of Tristan's first album, Love in the climax is exactly the same. I may really want more.