(500) Days of Summer.... (directly copied from imdb)

To guide everyone through my thought process BEFORE my going to see (500) Days of Summer, I was expecting a half-whimsical styled film featuring tons of either very fast flash-to-flash, all-in-an-instant editing similar to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or a kinetic, music and motion creates feeling, style similiar to Marie Antoinette. Because... you can't expect a film like this to have been done completely still. But, the film hardly came close to outdoing or even matching the styles of either. The film's major setting is essentially the inside of an apartment. Except some scenes, I would say that if you didn't completely take in those scenes inside the apartment, the film falls flat, period. Which leads to my next point... about how the hundreds of shots of the couple inside their abode is really given no extra help from the camera, because the shots just really sat there and really didn't do much of anything in terms of being stylistically exciting.

Which is why Michel Gondry made Eternal Sunshine seem like a montage every single time during a less-than-100 percent-completely-exciting scene (like scenes in an apartment), because what if he doesn't make it appear like this quick spree of all-at-once combination of shots.... the film would hardly be the picture perfect, blast of montage images that has been implanted into everyone's minds. I find it hard to describe how I felt about the stylistic aspect of (500) Days of Summer... it just felt blegh and like a pretty feeble attempt at creating the perfect sensual delight. But don't be confused! Don't go in expecting a film where the camera completely zeroes in, because it's hardly that. Most of the shots are a minute to two minutes long, but then it moves on to the next sequence of events when it gets done with "one day of summer."

It took me a while before I finally got situated, and realized that it's less "sensual" and more "quirky." So my conversion from expectations to reality (as detailed in one of the scenes) was to be specific, kind of like how JGL felt when he stormed out of the room at the moment of Zooey's engagement. All of that is not really a bad thing, I’m just detailing how I felt and it took me a while before I played along and finally got used to it. The playhouse narrations does almost nothing, except maybe chime in once every 30 minutes with maybe two lines of extra enlightenment. That is really just hitting the surface, the gimmicks have absolutely no end. The clumsy jokes which find humor in the awkward moments of their relationship can be found in every turn and angle. There are just so many things that scream "awkward." I don't understand how the musical scene featuring JGL dancing on the streets with a set of other people and an animated little blue bird really helps to heighten any aspect of the film. Because other than make the film appear like a weird, completely different movie, everything about it just screamed "extraneous" out loud, and "distracting" even louder. In fact, at the very end when JGL finds himself his "Autumn," the only thing that I felt like expressing that was on the edge of my tongue was "har har har?" Because what really does the gimmick of telling us that his next girlfriend's name is Autumn supposed to do? Other than break the momentum of a pretty good confrontation scene between JGL and Zooey, it's just entirely a nuisance, especially when I was still lingering in the after effect of JGL and Zooey’s break-up right before that scene.

The reason I state this is that.... a few pretty funny jokes might be immediately funny, but the second time you see it, it's hard to chuckle as loud. Do I mind it? Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it. But then, on the other side of the coin, the second time I see it, I might mind it a little less because it would have been what I was expecting and could be easier to ignore. But, that being said, how funny was that scene of Zooey pretending to have not heard JGL's friend's exposition on JGL’s true feelings about Zooey? "Stalking, sorry….. starting."

In fact, the only scene (maybe a few scenes, come to think of it) in which I felt genuine affection toward the couple happened in a scene that didn't have in abundance any of the things I mentioned in the previous two paragraphs or any annoying indie music. It was the scene where JGL declares he needs some sort of "guarantee" that Zooey won't just wake up in the morning feeling differently. It is one of the best scenes in the film; JGL's vulnerability and Zooey's openness left genuine human emotions lingering around. The expectations/reality scene was also very effective, if for some of the same reasons. The more human moments between the characters I liked much more than the scenes of them screaming "penis, penis" on a park bench.

Zooey Deschanel's quiet fragility strikes a few similarities to her performance in All the Real Girls, but it's actually two pieces of something very-much-its-own. The appeal of Zooey's beautiful harmony is entirely her soft and fragile voice. Her mellow tranquility is the perfect companion to the quiet poetry of Gordon Green's All the Real Girls. Her slightly more "light" character here is shades of adorable, but different shades of human, and even more shades of vulnerable. Nobody else could have played this role. She is a built in archetype of the traits I mentioned and she should, in all seriousness, be typecast in this vein. I wouldn't speak of another actress in the same way, because I seriously can't. I wouldn't even describe any of my favorites in the same vein.

I am most certainly not trying to rebel against a popular Oscar Buzz favorite. Neither am I trying to sent anybody into a state of frenzy, (sorry Mitch) but these are my thoughts. It's a movie I expected to love, but I am neither disappointed nor do I care how popular this movie becomes. I can understand the appeal. A film that’s designed to be about a relationship's ups-and-downs is appealing to people in many ways than I can understand. Because the film reads off like a cinematic diary, a diary about a relationship, and lord knows, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made it pretty obvious that people love movies like that.

In my very own opinion, but maybe influenced a little by my judgment of the final reaction of the people I saw this with, (who mainly responded to this film with all laughs and satisfaction), this movie is everything in the name of immediate. It does what it should do, it charms, it entertains, I don't know how much of an endlessly rewatchable favorite this could become, but as of this moment, even if I'm not a fan of Eternal Sunshine, it felt a lot better than this did. If I compare (500) Days of Summer to one of my favorites, it does not come close. I’m not suggesting that this film should be any specific film, but if you’re expecting the perfect vehicle of a bliss romance or the next “major” staple of a modern classic of this decade (Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine), or a sensual masterpiece, those statements would be in the name of hyperbole. What can you say? If it tries to be an immediately charming, cute-a-thon, it works. If it tries to go to the next level, it just falls short. I just don’t find it sensually sweeping enough, in my best opinion. It’s not a bad thing, but no one would say Bugsy is better than The Godfather.

If you don’t feel like reading of all that, well then….. I’ll say that I find this to be really good, but nothing more than just something coated with a handful of charm.