500 Days of Summer

I really didn't like Summer in 500 Days of Summer. She was brass and bawdy and cold and removed. I didn't like her because she was too real and too reminiscent of boys I've fallen for.

500 Days of Summer is the kind of movie that really wants to be edgy or arty. It wants to be different by letting you know that it's not going to tell its story in a conventional way. Throughout the movie, numbers flash onto the screen. The correspondence to the numbers is not really explained, but I presume they relate to the day of Tom and Summer's relationship (and there are 500 of those days). It's overtly edgy, yes, but I liked that aspect. It was a new way to tell a story--especially a love story. As Tom's little sister notes in the movie, we don't really remember our lives in a set sequence. We remember the good parts. And, we don't even ACTUALLY remember the good parts. We remember what we imagine or perceive to be the good parts. Did she really glance at you in that whimsical way or did you later imagine that she did? Did she really give you that hand job in the shower or did she accidentally brush up against you? Your mind takes you to extremes--maybe in an effort to preserve what is good or to discount the bad.

Tom is a likable kind of guy. He's sensitive, but not too much. He's open and really the kind of guy you could want for a boyfriend. And, that's sort of how this whole movie works. See, Summer insists to him right from the beginning that she does not want a boyfriend. And, she refuses to label their relationship as anything more than friendly. So, that is the frustrating (and good) part. Why WOULDN'T she want Tom?They are clearly happy together. But, that's it, isn't it? That's sort of the age-old question that we can never, ever answer. Well, maybe the better question is why does Tom stick around for someone who clearly only wants to play with him? Well, she makes him happy. For Tom, at least for the now, that is enough.

I liked this movie. I liked the color schemes of the office where Tom works as a greeting card writer. I liked the wardrobe choices for Tom and Summer. I liked how the characters went on a little tour of the architecture of Los Angeles. I even liked the cruelty that is Summer. I guess it's because we're all a little walled or icy when it comes to our inner feelings. We are almost required to share such intimate details in relationships. It's scary, and sometimes we need a little bit of armour.

There is one scene that epitomizes the manifestation of a heart break. It's near the end. Tom's reality is juxtaposed with his fantasy. We've all done that, right? We want so much for our fantasies to play out even though we understand how futile such imaginings may be when they must compete with the cruel world of reality. Oh, and the dance routine Tom does with his neighborhood peeps after he gets laid is kind of brilliant, too.