I have found that laying down my opinions in concrete blog is more of a challenge than it should really be. By writing this blog I am forcing myself to stand by my rants and criticisms as well as the wild praise I will no doubt heap onto some unworthy subjects. This does not sit very well with the social chameleon qualities that I have spent my formative years grooming. No longer will I be able to alter my likes and dislikes according to my current company, and my usually gentle humoring of friends' and family members' love for various subjects will now seem false and patronising. Until I work out how to edit and delete posts I will also not be able to cover up how blatantly my tastes are changed by universal opinion. Had I been writing a blog in year 10 I would no doubt have championed the brilliance of Wheatus. Thankfully, I was too busy on Teen Chat and so my miscalculated review of the next big thing was never committed to the universal scrutiny of the internet. I don't want another "Wheatus".
For my first blog posting I thought I would play it safe and review a film. I also decided I would give the film a negative review, much easier than putting my neck on the line to praise one.
I went to see (500) Days of Summer with my Architect companion, who has pointed out that I was very quick to dismiss the film and that after only a few minutes in I had made up my mind. She may have a point, but I stand by my review all the same.
(500) Days of Summer, as the narrator points out, is not a love story, or at least it dresses itself up (in quirky vintage clothing) to not be a love story. Anti-love stories can be far more profound than sickly sweet romance, revealing far more about the dynamics of real-life relationships than any love story ever could. For this part, (500) Days of Summer is not a typical love story, but it still manages to include the majority of the associated cliches. Love story or not aside, (500) Days of Summer is quick to make it known that it is an alternative romantic comedy. In fact, it has perfected a template for making 'alternative' romantic comedies of which Juno and Garden State would be proud; simply add your own iTunes playlist, preferably with a smattering of Belle & Sebastian, throw in a couple of creative/kooky characters and perhaps deconstruct a couple of rom com sensibilities. The characters will write themselves once you give them a creative profession (architect, check) and define them by their taste in headphones, indie bands and perhaps a pop-philosopher or two.
There were some redeeming features to the film, namely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is very watchable, sweet and funny. There were also some funny moments, although not nearly enough. I was surprised that I found the current alternative love interest go-to-girl Zooey Deschanel more annoying than anything, but maybe that wasn't really her fault.
The 2D character development in (500) Days of Summer is best seen in Summer; she believes that love is a fallacy because her parents got divorced. Tom on the other hand is an old fashioned romantic, we are told this is due to spending too much time listening to Morrissey (such depth). The two lead characters have paint by numbers interests and personalities (indie-cool edition), of course he likes old cinema, of course he likes vinyl, of course his favourite place in LA is a park bench with a view. If I was a confused 15 year old, I would lap this up and I am sure that the Smiths will rocket up the alternative 15 year old charts along with the Pixies, vinyl and Alain de Botton. If I had watched films like this when I was growing up, maybe I wouldn't have had to go through my Wheatus phase and I could have been handed an instant shopping list of cool that could be used as the foundation for my current taste. But then again, maybe the process and journey one takes in developing their taste is more important than the final destination.
(500) Days of Summer trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM
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