500 DAYS OF SUMMER - REVIEW
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Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Clark Gregg, Minka Kelly, Matthew Gray Gubler
Rating: ***
Independent films have had a stellar run of late, notably 'Adam' that
was also reviewed by the Rat. The floodgates opened with Juno and
Little Miss Sunshine and the material kept flowing. This has lead us
to 500 Days of SummeR.
Zooey Dechenal is Sunmer. A star on the rise who's recent flicks include
The Happening and Yes Man. She is a favourite of Cinema Rat and
largely the reason why the feature seemed so alluring.
To describe the movie premise simply it's; boy meets girl, boy falls
in love, girl...doesn't. That makes for an interesting course of
events and all though the chips fall they don't fall coventionally.
The opening scene puts us right in the story and we are playing catch
up from the word go. Though the tradional linear narrative is thrown
out the window here, which is a welcome change it's not terribly well
done. It makes the story hard work on the viewer and Summer's
character ark well and trully hits rough seas.
Joseph Gordon-Levett proved solid as Tom, coping with the the
flighty and flirty Summer.
James Franco as the quirky best friend was a nice touch and the young
girl who played Tom's sister was a treat. Her wisdom
transcends age and her frankness about how Summer should be approached
was a pleasant interpretation of the sisterly advice usually
administered in the genre typically.
In short, Summer was a lacklustre rom-com that aimed too high and
delivered too little beyond a full 500 days of Summer. This reviewer
felt underwhelmed by what was delivered and the run time extended too
far beyond where we may have felt comfortable with how it all turned
out.
These people are out there, they are amongst us, they do change, mould
and influence our moods and relationships in bizarre and unusual ways.
It does beg the question though - are there many different lovers for
all of us ? Or are we meant to be with the one person for eternity?
One thing is clear - Some friends kiss.
Critic Roger Ebert (www.rogerebert.com) rated this "****" How would you rate it? tell us below...??
