500 Days of Summer
(500) Days of Summer is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Marc Webb,[3] written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memories of a failed relationship.[4]
(500) Days of Summer
- Mason Novick
- Jessica Tuchinsky
- Mark Waters
- Steven J. Wolfe
- January 17, 2009 (Sundance)
- August 7, 2009 (United States)
95 minutes
United States
English
$60.7 million[1]
As an independent production, the film was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures and premiered at the 25th Sundance Film Festival. It received positive critical reviews and became a successful "sleeper hit", earning over $60 million in worldwide returns, far exceeding its $7.5 million budget. Many critics lauded the film as one of the best from 2009 and drew comparisons to other acclaimed films such as Annie Hall (1977) and High Fidelity (2000).[4][5][6]The movie is considered as a cult classic.[7]
The film received Best Original Screenplay and Best Screenplay awards at the 14th Satellite Awards and 25th Independent Spirit Awards, respectively, as well as two nominations at the 67th Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Gordon-Levitt).[8]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
The film is presented as a non-linear narrative. Each scene is introduced using a title card showing which of the 500 days it is.[9] Co-writer of the film Scott Neustadter admitted the film was based on a real romance. Neustadter explains that when he met the real girl who inspired the character Summer as a student at the London School of Economics in 2002, he was rebounding from a bad breakup back home, and promptly fell "crazily, madly, hopelessly in love" with the girl who "returned his kisses but not his ardor." The ending of the relationship was "painfully and unforgettably awful," which prompted him to co-write the film with Michael H. Weber. When Neustadter later showed the script to Summer's real-life counterpart, she said she related more to the Tom character.[10] Weber also stated that, "we've all been in the trenches of love, we've all gone through the highs and lows, so Scott and I felt that the only way to tell this story was to come at it from a completely real place. It was pretty interesting for us because Scott was just going through a break-up and I was in a long-term relationship, so we each brought a totally opposite perspective, living it and not living it, and I think that tension helped to bring out more of the comedy".[11]
Direction[edit]
Director Marc Webb has described the film as more of a "coming of age" story as opposed to a "rom-com". He stated, "We arrive at a different conclusion, for one thing. Plus, most romantic comedies are more loyal to a formula than to emotional truth. It's about happiness, and learning that you'll find it within yourself, rather than in the big blue eyes of the girl in the cubicle down the hall. I wanted to make an unsentimental movie and an uncynical movie. In my mind, I wanted it to be something you could dance to. That's why we put a parenthesis in the title – it's like a pop song in movie form. It's not a big film. It's not about war or poverty. It's about 500 days in a young guy's relationship, but it's no less deserving of scrutiny. When your heart is first broken, it consumes you. And it's an emotion I wanted to make a movie about, before I forgot how it felt".[11] Webb also stated that Deschanel's character, Summer, is based on a stock character type; "Yes, Summer is an immature view of a woman. She's Tom's view of a woman. He doesn't see her complexity and the consequence for him is heartbreak. In Tom's eyes, Summer is perfection, but perfection has no depth. Summer's not a girl, she's a phase."[11] Gordon-Levitt explained that he was drawn to the role of Tom because of his relatability to the character. "I've had my heart broken before. Truly, truly broken. But when I look back at me in my heartbroken phase, it's pretty hilarious, because it felt so much more extreme than it really was. One of the things I love about (500) Days of Summer is that it doesn't make light of what we go through in romances, but it is honest about it and shows it for what it is, which is often profoundly funny".[11]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Upon the film's initial limited release in the U.S, it was expected to become the "breakout indie hit of the summer".[29] By September 8, the film had taken in $1.9 million from 318 screens in the United Kingdom. This was regarded as a successful five-day opening by Fox Searchlight, earning around half as much as the science-fiction blockbuster District 9, which took in $3.5 million.[30] The film ended up grossing $32.4 million in the United States and Canada and $60.7 million worldwide.[1]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 234 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A clever, offbeat romantic comedy, (500) Days of Summer is refreshingly honest and utterly charming."[4] At the website's year-end "Golden Tomato Awards", which honored the best reviewed films of 2009, the film placed second in the romantic category.[31] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[32]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, describing the film as "a delightful comedy, alive with invention". He particularly praised the strong performances of Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel and summarized his review by adding, "Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why".[33] Premiere also awarded the film four stars out of four, stating "Much like the actual summer (the season, not the character), we never wanted it to end".[34]
Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times gave a positive review. He wrote, "(500) Days of Summer is something seldom seen: an original romantic comedy. It bristles with energy, emotion and intellect, as it flits about the dizzying highs and weeping-karaoke lows of a passionate entanglement".[35]
Dana Stevens of Slate also praised the film and described it as "a keeper. It's fun both to watch and to talk about afterward, and it possesses the elusive rom-com sine qua non: two equally appealing leads who bounce wonderfully off each other".[36]
Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film an "A", and also praised the originality of the story; "Most romantic comedies have half a dozen situations at best: Meet Cute, Infatuation, Pop Song Montage, Contrived Mix-Up, Angry Breakup, and Final Clinch. (500) Days of Summer is about the many unclassifiable moments in between. It's a feat of star acting, and it helps make 500 Days not just bitter or sweet but everything in between".[37] Film Threat critic Scott Knopf gave the film a maximum five-star rating and called the script "fantastic". He also lauded the film's innovative nature; "Of course they meet. Of course they fall for each other. Of course there are problems. It sounds cliché but what's remarkable about 500 Days is how the film explores new ways to tell the world's oldest story". He concluded that the film was "the best romantic comedy since Love Actually."[38] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three and a half stars out of four. He wrote, "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl. It's been done to emo death. That's why the sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad (500) Days of Summer hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and concludes: "500 Days is otherwise a different kind of love story: an honest one that takes a piece out of you".[39] USA Today's Claudia Puig wrote: "Much like Annie Hall did for a previous generation, (500) Days of Summer may be the movie that best captures a contemporary romantic sensibility."[6] IGN critic Eric Goldman gave the film 9 out of 10, and praised the film as "one of the best of 2009" and particularly complimented the innovative nature of the story in an often clichéd genre; "(500) Days of Summer proved there is a way to bring something fresh and new to one of the most cliché and often frustrating genres – the romantic comedy".[40] A.O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film 4 out of 5 and called it "Slight, charming and refreshingly candid little picture."[41]
Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club graded the film B−, but criticized it for its "dispiriting clichés," which make it "wind up in a no-man's land between Hollywood and something real."[42] NPR was more dismissive: "For all its rhetorical whimsy and hipster dressings, (500) Days of Summer is a thoroughly conservative affair, as culturally and romantically status quo as any Jennifer Aniston vehicle."[43] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal was also more critical, calling it, "synthetic and derivative, a movie that's popping with perceptions while searching for a style."[44]
British newspaper The Times gave a mixed review. Despite Toby Young awarding the film three stars out of five, he critiqued, "It is hardly the freshest romantic comedy of past 20 years. Taking the best bits from other movies and rearranging them in a non-linear sequence does not make for an original film."[45] The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw said the film was "let down by sitcom cliches, and by being weirdly incurious about the inner life of its female lead."[46]
Mark Adams of the Daily Mirror, though, gave the film a glowing review, awarding it a full five stars, and writing, "It is a modern romance for grown-ups... a sweet-natured, funny, deeply-romantic tale that brims with energy and is blessed with top-notch performances by Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt, who are both charming and have real chemistry".[47] Empire gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote: "Perfectly played, simultaneously serious and light, endlessly inventive, this is a strong contender for the most original date movie of the year."[48]
Top Ten lists[edit]
The film was also included in several "Top Ten" year-end lists for 2009 by various film critics.
