We know – because we’ve been told – that love is many things. Unrequited love, however, is only a few things, mainly painful and baffling. But mostly baffling, because long after the pain ebbs the confusion remains: Why didn’t she love me? In director Marc Webb’s feature debut, the clever and charming “500 Days of Summer,” that’s the question a despairing Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) asks as he looks back and tries to put the pieces of a broken relationship together in a way that might help to make sense of it all.
Like the fevered recollections of the newly heartsick, the plot leaps back and forth through the now-haunting highs and inexplicable lows of Tom’s 500 day relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a girl he met at the office, a girl who warned up front that she’s not wired for any kind of permanent relationship. Foolishly, instead of taking that personally, Tom might have made the mistake of taking her at her word and goes all in, sure he’ll be the first to make his way through Summer’s natural defense, the ethereal aloofness that both draws him and constantly keeps him off guard.
We’ve seen broken relationships examined through helter skelter, flashback-driven narratives before, most notably in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” (1977) and the criminally under-appreciated “Chilly Scenes of Winter” (1979). What sets “500 Days” apart is Deschanel’s disarming and distant Summer, a character intentionally given no emotional life of her own. The idea here – and it’s a unique one – is to keep the audience in Tom’s shoes. We’re not given any additional insight into who this woman is and therefore remain as mystified by her as he is. This effectively increases our emotional investment in the relationship because if Tom doesn’t win her back, we’ll be right there with him longing for some kind of closure and understanding.
“500 Days” is certainly an indie film (full disclosure: I’ve worked with a couple of the film’s producers) but there’s an accessible mainstream vibe at work, thanks to a witty, engaging and smart script that’s probably easier for audiences to relate to than most romantic comedies. Unlike big-budget studio romcoms where calculated turning and crisis points are made up of contrived, situational misunderstandings most of us have never found ourselves in, here things unravels in small, real and devastating ways. Without a word, Summer literally and figuratively pulls away from Tom. The intimacy cracks, the distance grows and the jokes they once shared aren’t funny anymore.
That’s not to say everything dwells on the dark and dreary. The opening narration instructs that what we’re about to see is not a love story, but rather a story about love. And like the flush of new love, Tom’s highs are as high as the lows are low. It’s all there; the charming but awkward initial encounters, the first kiss, the warm bloom of young people in love. There’s even a well-crafted, exuberant dance number that hits at just the right moment, when love seems most assured.
Webb, who cut his teeth as a music video director, has a marvelous eye and does the impossible turning Los Angeles into the kind of urban, upscale romantic place people might actually desire to live in. Other than some of the black and white noir films from the 40’s and 50’s, this city I refer to as The Giant One-Story Ghetto has never looked so good. But Webb’s storytelling skills and direction of his talented leads are just as impressive.
The narrative may jump around, but you never lose track of where things are because the emotional threads are what matter and those are in very skilled hands. Gordon-Levitt’s terrific and gives Tom just the right mix of bookish vulnerability and restlessness, which helps to make sense of why an aspiring architect would settle for life as a greeting card writer but risk so much for love. Deschanel’s even better. It can’t easy be to build an unknowable character interpreted only through the eyes of another, but using the power of her considerable screen presence, the actress creates a secret place within Summer few will ever be allowed to see, a special place that through no fault of her own will bring down many a Tom who dares believe he’ll find his way in.
With a runtime of 95 minutes the middle section still manages to sag some, the soundtrack’s unnecessarily cluttered in spots and the few supporting characters aren’t given the kind of subplots needed to flesh them out and make them seem like something more than afterthoughts. But these are minor issues in an otherwise refreshing and engaging film that doesn’t reinvent the genre, but does tweak it enough to allow you to enjoy yourself even as you admire the impressive craftsmanship behind it.
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