Summer Movie

Last night, when I crossed the 100,000 mile mark in my car, it was on the way to see the new movie (500) Days of Summer. It's a relationship... well, mostly comedy, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. It covers a 500 day period from the beginning to the end of a relationship between a young man and a woman named Summer.

Two things serve to set this apart from the typical romantic comedy, and to secure its "indie" status in more than just budget. First, this is not a purely rosy relationship between these two, as the movie tells you point blank within the first 60 seconds. Secondly, it's not told in completely chronological order. The movie sometimes jumps around to different days out of "the 500."

This latter element of the movie turns out to be a pretty compelling device at times. Sometimes a time jump is used for stark contrast and comedic effect. Other times it plays in a powerfully dramatic way, as we see how certain habits in the relationship first developed, and how they came to be seen by both people later on down the road. Actually, the time jumping is so effective as to make me wish for more of it. I'm not looking for a labyrinthine, Memento-esque story here, but overall the movie is presented "in order" save for a handful of these great moments. I think I'd have liked it even more if there had been more of that.

Still, note that I said "even more." There's certainly plenty to like in what is there. There are lots of laughs, including a brilliant sequence set on "the morning after" their first night together that is enough all on its own to recommend seeing the movie. There are many tender moments that feel genuine. And the "warts and all" approach to this story is authentic as well. Really, the only false moments in the whole piece are one joke at the end you can hear driving up from halfway down the block, and a too-intermittent use of a narrator that doesn't really add much to the tale. (Either use him more, or don't use him at all, I say.)

But I would definitely recommend the movie. I rate it a B+.