[500] days of summer

The unique selling point of this film is that it is different from normal romantic comedies, and this is true of the plot at least, but I have my doubts that the conclusions that it draws about the nature of love and relationships are any different from a typical Hollywood romance comedy.

The film deals with the end of a relationship - and not in the nuclear, all-guns blazing breakdown way, but in the more usual way that relationships end - one person realises that they don't feel the same as the other person, and lets that other person down as gently as possible. The central conceit of the film is that it flips between the different days of the relationship, so that you view the end of the break-up and the beginning of the relationship at the same time. This stops the film from becoming either too depressing or too mawkish.

I think it does a very good job of detailing both parts of the relationship really well - the little looks, flirting and anticipation before you know that the other person likes you back are well-observed, as is how much significance you put onto every conversation when you are first getting to know someone. The film communicates the sheer joy of falling in love and starting a new relationship incredibly well.

It does the same at the denouement: when Summer ends the relationship, the mundanity and calmness of the act also rings true - it ends not with a bang, but with a whimper: a matter of fact resolution that leaves Tom, the main character of the piece, confused and alone, and seeking answers as to why it happened.

The dichotomy of the film - between the hope of a new relationship and the despair at it's end - is best shown in a middle section of the film, where a split-screen camera (one side captioned Expectations, and one captioned Reality) follows Tom to a party where he hopes to win Summer back. The brutality of the widening gap between the two provides a memorable scene, one that surely everyone would recognise from their own lives at least once.

Despite these well rendered observations though, the film lacks a little something. We learn little about Summer and her motivations, which is a bit odd considering the film is about her. This may be intentional - what we do learn is that she is very much a closed book, and doesn't let people in easily. By the end of the film, Tom is still confused by her motivations and character, and the film I think reflects that. As Summer floats from scene to scene, you never really get the chance to connect with the character, to the detriment of enjoyment of the film.

The end of the film is also jarring - the director and writer spend much of the time demonstrating that fate and love do not exist, and that films and songs reinforce this cliched view of the world. Then, right at the end, it changes its mind and direction, and also follows that cliche to the letter.

Overall, not a bad film, but the lapses into easy cliche and sentimentality, and the lack of any really rounded characters except for Tom, means it lacks a certain something. It won't ever be a film that you absolutely love which, given the subject matter of the film, is really rather fitting.