(500) Days of Summer Initial Response

I just got back from watching a free promotional screening of (500) Days of Summer in Salt Lake City.  First off, how cool is it that I got to catch a promo screening a week and a half before the film officially opens in SLC?  I think it's pretty dang cool, and I'm grateful that I was able to make the screening.  Along with a lot of other people.  We got there half an hour before the scheduled 7:30 showtime, and the theater was nearly full.  We ended up sitting 4 rows from the front on the right side of the theater; the view wasn't optimal as I would normally prefer, but it wasn't detrimental to my enjoyment of the film or anything.  Quite frankly, I was surprised (and in a way pleased) by the early turnout.  

Alright, so I'll talk a little about the actual film.  I enjoyed the movie a lot.  I feel like it is one of the few romantic comedies that is honest and genuine.  It looks at both the good and the bad of the central relationship between Tom (played by the ever-awesome Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Summer (played by my celeb crush, the stunning Zooey Deschanel).  I couldn't imagine this film with anyone else cast in the lead roles; Zooey and Joseph are perfect.  They have excellent on-screen chemistry and nothing feels amiss in their performances.  I don't feel like the film reaches the emotional catharsis of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it's unfair to expect that of any film.  

(500) Days of Summer reminds me of Eternal Sunshine in a couple ways.  Both look at relationships differently than most conventional films, they use nonlinear storytelling to portray the ups and downs of the relationship, and they are both quite creative in their visual approach.  Eternal Sunshine is hands down the better film, but it is one of my all-time favorites so it's not surprising I feel that way.  One of the reasons I feel Eternal Sunshine is better is that the female character, Clementine (played by Kate Winslet), is one of the best female characters in cinema.  She is complex and unique and never easily reduced to any one thing; she is simply Clementine.  In (500) Days of Summer the story is told completely from Tom's perspective, and because of that, Summer remains a mystery.  We're given little glimpse into why she is the way she is; as the viewer, we understand even less than Tom, even though Summer is still a mystery to him at all times.  I understand the filmmaker's intent in leaving Summer as an enigma, and I can accept that choice and how it impacts the film.  I think, however, that the choice to not really delve into her motivation limits the film and prevents it from being as poignant or affecting as it could otherwise have been.  Tom is a sympathetic character and Summer is intriguing and enchanting, but I could only ever relate to Tom, no matter how much I wanted to understand Summer.  That's not to say that I didn't like Summer because I did like her a lot; I just couldn't understand her in the end, and, like many females in real life, she just left me frustrated and confused.  And yet, one more shot of her blue eyes and all that confusion and frustration would vanish --- let's be serious, Zooey has amazing eyes, does she not?  I suppose that conflict of being simultaneously enraptured and frustrated by Summer is what the filmmakers intended to happen.

I really want to see this film again, and I hope it continues to perform really well in its limited release so that it can receive a wide release and play in some theater in Provo/Orem.  There are a lot of very funny moments in the film, and it has a really good soundtrack as well.  If you have any chance at all to see, I think it is definitely worth it.  

This was one of the best movies I've seen this summer.