Movie Moment- (500) Days of Summer (2009)

We rented this flick the other day. I had wanted to see it for a while, but didn’t get around to it until now. What can I say, life’s been busy☺. Also, when it comes to romantic comedies, James is almost always immediately suspect that it will be… gasp… Sappy (shudder in horror). I managed to get this one by the Sap police (which, I have to say is total BS- he was just as moved as I was by the first 8 minutes of UP, and countless other movies with oodles of Saptitude, but I digress…) by pointing out that the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was in Inception and hey wow he was awesome in that, was in this movie.

At the end of (500) DOS, the first descriptive words that came to mind for the movie were ‘crisp’ and ‘fresh’. The premise wasn’t new- Boy meets Girl, Boy falls hard for Girl, and relationship chaos ensues. The presentation of said premise, however, was unique. The title shows the duration of the relationship. But the movie jumps around from Day 1 to Day 294 to Day 40, and continues in this volley back and forth to give you the full story eventually, but wants to show you certain parts before others. Ultimately, the jumping around creates an almost tangible quilt of the experience of this relationship that makes it feel real. We actually get to see what happens after the romantic peak where most romantic comedies end.

And yes, there is some sappiness. But there are also some fantastically biting and humourous relationship/break up moments. During one epic scene, the main character (Gordon-Levitt), a greeting card writer, is in a state of romantic misery induced melancholy. His boss is checking in, making sure he is OK. Main character asks why. Boss replies that he is worried since one card he wrote for Valentine’s Day said- ‘Roses are red, Violets are Blue- Fuck you whore.’ Sap police LOVED that, as did I☺

Another highlight for me was the music. I love movie soundtracks and am very aware of how they flow with or distract from the movie. I’d say that about half of my music collection is from movie soundtracks that caught my attention. This movie had an amazing soundtrack. I had heard in interviews that this was true, but was skeptical. Holy monkey, it was fantastic! It felt like every song fit each scene perfectly- that it was custom made for that imagery and emotion.

All in all, this movie was a great blend of cheesy sappy moments, painfully real relationships pitfalls, sharp humour, and music.