(500) Days of Summer

I put myself into tricky positions, really I do. The one thing I'm having to square with my inner self at the moment is my current crush on (500) Days of Summer, when I'm the lone bastard at the party who hated Amelie. How does that work? Well, I suppose my line of defence will have to be that I fell for Summer in a way I didn't for Amelie, which enabled me to look past the former film's more cloying, whimsical touches; in Amelie, the quirks sent me into fits of fury, but somehow I'm willing to indulge (500) Days of Summer. Just a little. I'll also be laying into it a little bit, because I do have principles.

(500) Days of Summer - for those of you (and I suppose I mean my parents, here) who haven't been anticipating this film ever since it caused a splash at Sundance - is about Tom Hansen, a sensitive young greetings card writer, who falls for fellow office worker Summer. They go out for a bit, then break up, he becomes heartbroken and then gradually gets over it. And that's it. I suppose the place I have to start, in defending the film, is that it's about a million times more honest, thoughtful and truthful than 99% of romantic comedies that came out in the last ten years. It's against these films that it sets itself out to be compared: it's an alternative rom-non-rom-trag-com for the mainstream. OK? So all of you hardcore alternatives just need to take it a bit easy.

Next: the sweetness of the film. I find - and perhaps I'm just blinded by my love for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and (the looks of) Zooey Deschanel (of which more later) - that the film wins you over, somehow. It doesn't take itself too seriously, yet it's sincere; it has a good tone to it, and some stylish cinematography. In particular it loves its main characters and films them radiantly: look at all those beautiful sunlit close-ups of Deschanel, or the way it captures Gordon-Levitt's charisma. I think it's also a pretty funny film, and lord knows I'm hard to please on that count.

About the actors: let me count the ways. Boy oh boy. Phwoar. Hoo-wee. Yabba dabba doo. Hubbada hubbada. In a word: OW! They are seriously good-looking. Let's not forget that part of cinema's quality is its capacity to produce beauty, and JGL and ZD are some quality eye-candy. Together, they add up to far more than the sum of their (glorious) parts. It's a bit gushing to say it, but star quality is so important to a film, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt has it, and it's captured here: the magic of his grin, especially, lifted my heart up quite a lot. Zooey D is no slouch in the looks department either, and the camera lovingly follows her, showing her with all the passion that Tom feels for her. I need to mention that Gordon-Levitt acts really well in this, effortlessly pulling off the smitten scenes, the joy and the heartbreak. Deschanel less so; her character is a little under-written and her performance could do with a touch more zing.

OK, so I think it's time to try and slip its weaknesses under the radar. It is rather over-laden with stylistic quirks: the irritating voice-over, the over-use of music to signpost emotion, the moment when Tom's character is turned into a cartoon; the stock characters of the wise young sister and the drunken friend. On the other hand, there are some touches that feel fresh and lovely, like Tom's impromptu street dance, or the expectations/actuality sequence, in which a split screen conveys the chasm between Tom's hopes for a party and the way it actually turns out: it's a slightly hokey comic device which is turned on its head for true pathos. Back to the weaknesses: the worlds of the two young lovers aren't believable, especially his love for architecture, which the film-makers seem to have no knowledge of whatsoever. And the very last scene is cringe-making in the extreme: I actually said out loud, "Oh no!", because it was so awful.

That may seem like a lot, which is why this post reads a touch defensive. But that's because despite all the clunkiness, (500) Days of Summer is a funny film and a charming film. True, it's slight, and it has its flaws - but when you fall in love, these are the sorts of things you're able to overlook. Doubtless in a few years' time I'll look back and wonder what made me fall so hard; in the meantime, Summer is here and I'm at its service.


Listening to: Joan Armatrading, Love and Affection: Classics 1975-1983