SUPERBAD was the movie I always wanted to write growing up, but never could articulate. The main characters’ quest for “companionship” was my quest. Their hopeless attempt to grab the life they marveled at was my misplaced endeavor too. The whole experience of Evan and Seth was a learning experience, which while failing to occur for me in one night, did encompass my life from about 16 to 19. Basically I could have used this movie when I was 15 as a guide to the next four years of my life. Alas, I stumbled through it all on my own.
KICKING AND SCREAMING was the same movie that I saw before I could even realize that it would become my life to a certain degree.
The Noah Baumbach film revolves around the aimless lives of college graduates who are essentially running in place and don’t realize they’re not going anywhere. Needless to say I feel their pain and am looking for my own way to shake things up.
While it may be premature to add to this list, I would say that 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is a heavy candidate to join the team.
I saw 500 DAYS OF SUMMER Sunday night at the film forum with my roommates Barb and Jim. I’ve raved about the film forum in the past and I’ll use this post to again tout this venue. Short of having a home theater this is the best way to watch a movie. GO!
Anyway, the movie follows the relationship of Summer (Zoe) and Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). We jump all around the 500 days of their relationship, as we get a first hand seat to the highs and lows, albeit not necessarily in that order.
The film warns its viewers that this is not a love story, and its right in the Hollywood sense. Guy and girl do not overcome some superficial obstacle to end up together, only after guy makes up for some minor mistake he made toward the end of the film. Rather, this is the real life love story that THE BREAKUP tried and failed to be. This is the love story grounded in reality, with pain, joy, and a murky ending that’s really just another chapter in a much longer story.
The movie is funny and cute, without ever going out of its way to be either. Most of the humor is derived from Tom’s two friends who offer him advice, support and condolences depending on the situation.
For viewers who haven’t seen BRICK, which for me was the coming out party for Levitt, 500 DAYS is his mass exposure to audiences that only remember him from 3rd Rock From the SUN or 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU. It’s there a little bit in 10 THINGS, but now he’s finally gotten to show off some serious range. Although, Levitt recently appeared as a lunatic criminal in KILL SHOT, so I guess that’s technically more range.
I guess what I mean is that I was impressed by the nuance of Levitt’s performance in 500 DAYS. Every pained look or joyous smile seemed to be running in about ten different directions at once. None of this was that new to me, as Levitt was even more on in BRICK, which is a must see.
I would be remiss, though, to ignore Zooey Deschanel who plays an evil version of what I imagine she’s like in real life. I use evil only in the sense that while her character is perfectly up front about her intentions and her attitudes, she lets Levitt’s character forget about these caveats and get caught up in the excitement of her.
That probably exposes part of my own biases, which indicates that it is time to explain why this film speaks so directly to me. For starts, Tom’s work life is something that I’m terrified of. He is greeting card writer by day and a closeted architect in his thoughts and dreams. I’m afraid of falling into the same rut where I’m stuck doing something that doesn’t make me happy, but provides the safety and security to keep me from doing what I want to do or at the very least trying and failing. Tom is able to overcome this rut and by the end of film and goes for it in his professional life (and ultimately his personal life), but it takes some serious body blows for him to realize he needs a new strategy.
Even more resonating for me was Tom’s views on love and life. Tom gets bogged down in searching for his vision of life that he fails to see the real joys in life. He can’t merely be, but rather needs to know what being is, what to call it, so that he can know how to act. I too suffer from this same debilitating affliction. My friend Ruby has never been burdened by this holdup and for years has advised me to shake loose of my chains.
I’m not sure how I’ll feel about this movie five or ten years down the road. I’m pretty sure that with additional experience I’ll have new insights into the movie and its meaning will continue to evolve. I would recommend that you go out and see this movie too, so you can discover what it means to you. Plus, if you don’t want to break down all the layers and seek your own meaning, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is easy to digest and fun in the process.
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