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This marks the second of three good movies I've seen in a row (sandwiched between The Hurt Locker and District 9). What a streak, particularly in this barren summer. I love parentheses, so the fact that this movie has them right in the title is a big advantage for it. Is (500) Days as good as The Hurt Locker? No, it's slightly too precious in spots and also features a couple of (unneccessary) standard romantic comedy staples - the bumbling friends with no advice to offer and the wise (and profane) beyond-her-years sibling with way too much (good) advice to offer. Other than those quibbles, though, (500) Days was pretty fresh - I loved the fact that they tell you up front (and in the trailers) that it isn't a love story and that it doesn't really work out for the couple in the end.
It's a pretty typical story: straight-laced romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets quirky, not-that-conventionally-beautiful-yet-uniformly-desired girl Summer (Zooey Deschanel). The story is not told in chronological order, so you don't get the straightforward "does she like me? she likes me! she doesn't like me..." routine. I think every guy has probably encountered some loopy chick like Summer (and does Zooey Deschanel play any other type role? And is she the same exact person as Maggie Gyllenhaal or what?) at some point in his life, inevitably leading to consternation. Gordon-Levitt is a great actor, although this is the first time I've seen him in something this light since his seminal work in Third Rock From the Sun. He works just fine here, maybe a tad too earnest at times, but he was able to bridge the gap from breezy to (literally) cartoonish well. As a bonus, there's a big dose of Hall & Oates in here, too. The leads are good, the story is fresh for the genre and some of the relationship complications will hit close to home. If you are going to go to a romantic comedy, this is a much better choice than, for example, the one with Katherine Heigl and that 300 dude.
One other thing, Geoffrey Arend, who I saw in the liquor store the other day, is one of the goofy friends in this movie. As you may be aware, he is engaged to Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame. Geoffrey may be a great guy, but I still can't figure out how this one adds up. (I'm too new here to post pictures yet, but if you've seen them you'll know what I'm talking about)
(Also, if there is already a thread for this movie, I apologize. I did multiple searches but the site seemed to be running very slow, please move as necessary if this is in wrong spot)
It's a pretty typical story: straight-laced romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets quirky, not-that-conventionally-beautiful-yet-uniformly-desired girl Summer (Zooey Deschanel). The story is not told in chronological order, so you don't get the straightforward "does she like me? she likes me! she doesn't like me..." routine. I think every guy has probably encountered some loopy chick like Summer (and does Zooey Deschanel play any other type role? And is she the same exact person as Maggie Gyllenhaal or what?) at some point in his life, inevitably leading to consternation. Gordon-Levitt is a great actor, although this is the first time I've seen him in something this light since his seminal work in Third Rock From the Sun. He works just fine here, maybe a tad too earnest at times, but he was able to bridge the gap from breezy to (literally) cartoonish well. As a bonus, there's a big dose of Hall & Oates in here, too. The leads are good, the story is fresh for the genre and some of the relationship complications will hit close to home. If you are going to go to a romantic comedy, this is a much better choice than, for example, the one with Katherine Heigl and that 300 dude.
One other thing, Geoffrey Arend, who I saw in the liquor store the other day, is one of the goofy friends in this movie. As you may be aware, he is engaged to Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame. Geoffrey may be a great guy, but I still can't figure out how this one adds up. (I'm too new here to post pictures yet, but if you've seen them you'll know what I'm talking about)
(Also, if there is already a thread for this movie, I apologize. I did multiple searches but the site seemed to be running very slow, please move as necessary if this is in wrong spot)
