SONG FOR THE UNREQUITED: a review of "(500) Days Of Summer"

Recently made available for home viewing on DVD, here is my review, originally written July 26, 2009

"(500) DAYS OF SUMMER" Directed by Marc Webb
*** (three stars)

"Don't you know that a love unrequited is still love in the end?"
-lyrics by Moe Berg
"Man's Best Friend"
by The Pursuit Of Happiness

I completely understand a man like Tom Hansen because I AM Tom Hansen. Not literally of course but emotionally. In the new film "(500) Days Of Summer," we are invited into the inner romantic world of Mr. Hanson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a greeting card writer and hopeful architect, who dives heart first into the sea of love and loss with the elusive Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). As the film opens, we are warned that this film will not be "a love story," and this is no false advertisement. What we have is a film that not only works as an antidote to the glut of so-called romantic comedies that have plagued theaters for years, but essentially as a film about memory, perceptions and the moments that create and destroy a relationship.

Tom first meets Summer during a team meeting at the greeting card company. For a reason that can only be unexplained, Summer happens to be the type of woman who possesses a certain je ne sais quoi that allows men of varying ages to fall for her and Tom is no exception. He's intrigued but her aloof nature keeps him away even after a brief, charming first discussion at an office party. Then, the fateful day arrives in a shared elevator as Tom, listening to The Smiths on his headphones, attracts a momentary compliment on his musical taste by Summer. Once she exits the elevator, it's all over and his simmering crush begins to blossom into much more.

As the two continue to get to know each other at a karaoke bar, Tom reveals himself to be a hopeless romantic, one who believes in fate and true love while Summer does not in the least. Summer makes it abundantly clear that she is a woman who has no interest in love, or boyfriends and as the product of divorced parents, she even curiously challenges his feelings about love and the lack of reality contained therein, to which Tom replies, "It's love. Not Santa Claus."

The remainder of the film is presented as a challenge to Tom's romantic beliefs and his love for Summer in particular through an ingenious fashion of non-linear storytelling. The hopscotch nature of the presentation (through title cards reading "Day 288," Day 1," "Day 400," and so on) provides a terrific emotional tension as Tom attempts to figure out not only where it all went wrong but if the person he fell in love with was even the person he thought she was in the first place. Moments that were playful during the beginning stages are tiresome by the end and the jigsaw puzzle of the film's construction allows us to be a part of emotions Tom cannot quite see coming and the effect is heartbreaking. It is here where the film shines most. Director Marc Webb shows a perceptiveness not typically seen in movie love stories and his sensitivity brings out some virtuoso sequences including a post-coital dance number, a travelogue through sorrowful foreign films in which Tom is the star, and one outstanding split-screen section that details Tom's expectations for a night with Summer against the reality of the same night with Summer.

Gordon-Leavitt handles the role with an earnestness that is never cloying but sympathetic to those of us out there--myself included--whose ideas of love were indeed formed by film images (For me, one of the most romantic scenes in any film is the final shot of "Sixteen Candles" as I wanted to be the boy who gets the girl and sits on a table top waiting for that life altering kiss.) and pop songs. Sad songs do indeed say so much but it may not be the best thing to live a life by. In fact, Tom just may be a cinematic cousin to John Cusack's Rob Gordon, the romantically challenged and compulsive list maker from the brilliant "High Fidelity." I have walked in Tom's shoes, shared his hopes and hurts, still understand where it all originates from and how it may have been a damaging thing to let songs and images be a romantic guide in the real world where the perfect chorus doesn't exist and the love struck fade out typically doesn't arrive. "(500) Days Of Summer" is perfectly in tune with those emotions and the people who hold those emotions so tightly and wear them on their sleeves.

But, something kept me at a distance from fully embracing this film. Actually, a few things. Tom frequently takes in emotional counsel from his 12 year old sister, Rachel (played by Chloe Moretz). Whle Moretz contained a spunkiness that reminded me fondly of a young Jodie Foster or Tatum O'Neal and I look forward to seeing her in the future, the character felt completely like an indie-film creation: all prefabricated quirk and no reality whatsoever. Her precociousness is overdone and her romantic world-weariness is unfounded and too terribly contrived in a film of such emotional honesty. Even worse is the actual conclusion, of which I will of course not spoil but it left me smacking my forehead in a state of disbelief. It too was terribly contrived and felt so terribly false after travelling through all of the honesty beforehand.

But, I have to say most of all I hated Summer Finn. I REALLY hated Summer Finn (her love for Ringo Starr notwithstanding). This is of no fault of Zooey Deschanel who plays this tricky role to perfection. We never really see her as she really is since we are seeing her entirely through the filter of Tom's memories (much like Kate Winslet's Clementine from "Eternal Sunshine Of The
Spotless Mind"). We see how he perceived her to be and that makes her character as elusive as love itself. I get that. But still I just HATED her. I hated her callousness which continues into a selfish emotional cruelty that made me want to shout at the screen for Tom to run from her as fast as he is able. Yes, she is up front with him about her intentions of not being interested in romance but it is a romance they have whether she is willing to admit it or not and his feelings are equally valid. She is never honest about her emotions for him, her intentions and even a crushing moment late in the film that was truly painful. Is it possible that I am channeling my own past and present romantic pains and confusions into this film? Possibly so and maybe we're supposed to anyway. It is true that this film is not a love story but a love story is the core of the piece and I couldn't get past my growing distaste for this woman who plays with Tom's heart just as a disinterested cat toys with a ball of yarn. I couldn't have much stake in the relationship as it all felt so one-sided. But then again, it IS one-sided as we only see Tom's side of the story. It would be interesting to see Summer's side with a possible "(500) Days Of Tom." But for this film, he loved her, I hated seeing his heart broken and because there was no way into Summer's mind in ANY way, it hurt the film overall for me.

That said, it is a film worth seeing if not for anything else but to get a story where love is confusing, messy and gets the intimacy dance so right. It is nowhere in the same league as the aforementioned "Eternal Sunshine" and "High Fidelity" or even "Chasing Amy" or "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." But, it is inventive, quite funny, warm hearted, perceptive about a generation raised through the ashes of divorce and so truthful about how we remember the loves of our lives, especially the ones that deeply broke our hearts.