(500) Days of Summer: Doesn’t Quite Deliver

Just saw (500) Days of Summer after much hype from friends and critics. It’s been hailed as a “refreshing” take on love, pointedly referring to the more common romantic comedies with story lines ranging from cute to absurd, but all ending with happily ever after. While the main characters in this movie don’t end up together, it’s still a movie about love that’s wrapped up and delivered to the audience with a neatly tied bow, which we all know, and which the movie attempts to say, is not how love really works.

Boy meets girl. They hook up. They break up. They move on with other people. Ok, it’s not what movie goers expect to see in a movie with charming Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel who seem made for each other. But as far as telling a “different” kind of love story (one that is more realistic), it still does so in a haze of romantic notions and can’t help but offer a happily ever after. It’s like trying to describe a tragedy to a six year old. We try so hard to preserve innocence, but we don’t realize that sugar coating real life only raises the already impossible expectations of love.

In reality, love is messy, and pretty ugly. And even as it attempts to show that ugly side, (500) Days doesn’t really dare to completely go there.

There’s a scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt is floating on cloud nine, hi-fiving strangers and dancing in the park. It’s a true and accurate depiction of being on a love high. But the scenes where he’s trying to portray the utter dismay of a love lost, do not go far enough. He in his robe buying liquor and twinkies is an affront at the true experience of breaking up with someone you never really understood. If only it were that easy.

Perhaps what I find the most offensive about the idea that this movie is any different than the long line of romantic comedies that are unrealistic and perpetuate a misconception of how love works, is the very generous closure that Zooey’s character offers. Summer waits for him at his favorite spot, to explain what happened — simply put as “I knew what I was never sure of with you.”

I’m not saying that I didn’t like this movie. I enjoyed it. But I enjoy most romantic comedies, and this is just another one. When critics say that it should be nominated as best picture in this year’s Academy Awards, I have to give an exasperated sigh. There’s nothing more original about this love story than other fun, witty, well-written romantic comedies before it. And there’s certainly nothing more realistic.

In real life, Summer would not have understood the emotional impact she had on Tom, and if she did, she would not confront it. In real life, Tom would not have had closure, would not have left his greeting card job, and would not have thought to ask Autumn out.  Sure, Tom would have slowly but surely moved on. He would always look back at his (500) days of Summer with longing, regret, and anger. And he would have eventually found Autumn, but not in the charming way portrayed in the movie. Summer would have eventually gotten married, very likely to the next person after Tom, but that would be the end. They’d never see or speak to each other again.

But can this reality really sell? We’re still in Hollywood, aren’t we? The audience demands closure, even if they can’t demand it in real life. This movie was still too afraid to stray too far from the formula it was trying to avoid.