"500 Days of Summer" He Just Like Me a Little Too Much

 

    I'll level with you, my imaginary reader, the first time I watched 500 Days of Summer, I didn't get it. I went on my phone a lot, and my attention was generally not there for the film. Mostly because I felt that it dragged on for quite some time, and I didn't understand it. I pretty much drew all the wrong conclusions from the film. I just thought Summer married some dude on a random whim and was being an asshole to Tom. Looking back, I can see why I couldn't process what I was seeing on the screen. Not only did I sort of force the film, but looking back, I relate to Tom, almost too much, and in a way, I still do? And that sort of scares me.

    I mean that's not to say that there's anything wrong with being a hopeless romantic, as shown by the end of the film, there's hope for us all, even poor, poor Tom. It's just that, he felt so relatable, the way even the smallest things about someone can cause him to spiral, in a positive sense. I could easily picture myself in his shoes when he began to quickly fill in the picture of Summer's exes with too much haste. The film shows that spiraling, even positively, about how amazing someone is is an easy ramp to slide up or down on towards delusion.

    I mean, the scene where Hero by Regina Spektor is playing and Tom has these expectations versus reality, that's the scene I saw on Twitter that made me want to give the movie another shot. And after seeing it in the context of the film, I can safely say that Tom is one of those characters I wish I didn't relate to as much as I do. I mean it's kind of sad how in both Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and 500 Days of Summer, two films involving manic pixie dream girls, I had to rewatch them to actually understand their message. Part of it was always rooting for the main character, another part of it must have ben denial, and part of it was probably just plain ignorance. 

    Though I suppose that's kind of the point, its so easy to gloss over obvious signs and signals when you've already begun painting this beautiful portrait around them, and by the time you're finished it's too late to ask if they feel trapped, and they leave the beautiful nest you've laid at their feet. So that means that as viewers, it's quite easy to just gloss over many of these obvious signs because we see everything from Tom's perspective, he' s an unreliable narrator. I suppose in that sense hopeless romantics such as myself often suffer from main character syndrome, and it's easy to forget that just because we imagine ourselves in a fairy tale in our head doesn't mean we're in one in reality. It's less of a fairy tale, and more of an adventure, and as Will Toledo put it, "good lives make bad stories", and the best stories always have some sort of hardship.

    Enough about me and my self pity though, because while I am ashamed to admit that I relate to Tom more than I'd like to, I am not Tom. Also, this was supposed to be a review of the film, not my nonexistent love life. On that note, I do have to say that even though it's sort of a joke that Tom's music taste did contribute to him being so delusional, the soundtrack to this film is well done. From There is a Light that Never Goes Out, to You Make My Dreams Come True, to the aforementioned Hero, every song in this film just fits, and is the sort of choice that makes or breaks their respective scenes. In fact, this soundtrack was so good both my sister and I, who I watched this film with, began to think about songs that might fit this film. While it is sort of cheating, as Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens was already in my mind prior to watching this film, after completing it, I can safely say that I am listening to it on repeat as I write this review.

    If I had to have any critiques, it would be that this film is definitely a slow burn, especially as it slowly introduces the jumping back and forth, because you're just watching Tom complain about a girl that the viewers seemingly have no connection or knowledge about. My sister noticed this as well, and considering this was one of the hurdles I encountered my first time around, I can safely say that for anyone thinking about watching this film, give it a fair shot, it gets better. I suppose another critique would be that, Summer really isn't as mean as I felt like she should have been. She's almost too much of a good person?  Like the only "asshole" thing she did was she's very clearly not communicating as well as I'd like her to. She's clearly the smarter person, and could see where it was going, but just sort of cut it off abruptly. Also she dances with Tom without him knowing that she's already moved on, it's a little scummy.

Final Score: 84/100

    I don't know if I'd ever say that I'm itching to rewatch this film, it's not like it's particularly happy, like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. But y'know what, for people like me, it's good sometimes to get a wakeup call, to be slapped in the face and be told, "Hey, all this shit you're doing? Remember to cut it out every once in a while, or else you'll forget that you have some roses tinted glasses on." Looking back, I'd admonish my younger self for not understanding this film, or for not giving it the fair shot it deserved. If I understood this film back then, perhaps things would be different, perhaps they wouldn't. After all, as this film shows, there's no such thing as miracles, it's all just coincidences, and sometimes you need the lesser experiences to know when you have the right experience.