What Happens When a ‘Summer’ Fling That Never Ends Suddenly Ends?
by AG | July 17, 2009 - 9:27am | 0 comments - 54 readsIt turns out it depends who you ask and on what day you ask, and that's half the fun and frustration of "(500) Days," fitting since this is a relationship that is both fun and frustrating. Levitt ("Third Rock from the Sun," "Brick," "Manic") and Deschanel ("Almost Famous," "Gigantic," "Manic") are perfect in these roles; Levitt's boy-next-door sweetness is never cloying, while Deschanel brings a sizable dose of humanity, logic, and yes, beauty, to her off-beat, odd-girl behavior. They work so well together because you want them to end up together, and yet know, deep down, this is not a love story. The screenwriters, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and director, Marc Webb, are strutting their stuff, too. The script is sharp and witty, but not overwhelming quirky. Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" is an obvious influence: "(500) Days" is a similar grab bag of cinematic tricks. There's that narrator and spinning day counter, plus Super 8 home videos; a musical number complete with chirping, animated blue bird; a scene that devolves into one of Tom's black-and-white sketches of Los Angeles; even a split screen of a party thrown by Summer: Tom's expectations of the proceedings on the left, what really happens on the right. (I half expected Annie Hall's uninterested, cigarette-smoking, mid-sex shade to walk passed in that last one.) An excellent soundtrack and Tom's funny best friends (and kid sister) help propel the story forward. But are you going to like where the story ends up, even if you love the journey? Again, it depends on your degree of hopeless romanticism. The last scene, and particularly the excellent last line, bring Tom back to square one and day one, and you only hope that the next 500 days turn out different -- and perhaps even better -- than the last. [inline:summer]
