500 Days of Summer – 95 Minutes of Adorable

(… But that’s about it.)

I’m still not sure exactly what it was that drew me to 500 Days of Summer, but for whatever reason, I was super excited to see it as soon as I saw the trailer a few months back. I’m not normally one for rom coms and it was clear that the movie was set in neither Chicago nor New York, two cities that will draw me to any movie, genre notwithstanding. But regardless, I was online last Saturday, buying tickets for an evening show and talking my friend into joining me for “a story about love.”

And a story about love I got. Albeit, a sort of bizarre, obsessive, underdeveloped love. More puppy love, really. Quick synopsis – Tom (Gordon-Levitt) meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel – whose first name is already recognized as “ok” by my MS word spell check, oddly enough). He is smitten by her looks, mostly, and her love of the Smiths. Summer is taken by Tom’s interest in her, it seems, as she shows no affection towards him until his crush is exposed. Cuteness abounds. But, as we find out in the first 5 minutes, it is not to be. Aww.

Now, let me first say, I left the theater smiling, which is really the best you can ask from a summertime movie. But as the night wore on, and the subsequent days rolled past, I found myself growing less enchanted by the adorable tale. A lot of questions popped up. (Why is his much younger sister so much smarter than he is? Why does he get so attached to a girl who clearly doesn’t want to be in a relationship with him? How does he afford such an amazing apartment with what appears to be a crappy job?) And the cuteness slowly faded away.

My primary issue with the movie is the loose basis on which we are to buy into this relationship. They cover the many pieces of Summer that Tom loves, and later hates, such as her eyes, knees and a heart-shaped mole. Plenty for an hour and a half movie, for sure, but not enough to maintain a lasting impression on the audience. There are a few other, largely irrelevant, characters. A few good jokes and a particularly memorable trip to a deli. Overall, 500 Days of Summer is a reasonably entertaining flick with a short self life.

A major saving grace, however, is the soundtrack, which on its own is worth the trip. Of course, The Smiths are frequent guests. There’s a Spoon cameo and a shout out in the dialogue. But, for me, what brought it together was the French ditty by none other than the First Lady of France, Ms. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. In addition to liking the song, it just made me happy that she was in the movie and available for sale on iTunes and stores near you. Nothing like a little trans-Atlantic politico moment to really drive a movie home for me. I am curious if that’s enough for everyone else.

*By Jesy, who probably should be embarrassed about this newfound love for Carla Bruni.

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