(500) Days of Summer

♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Roses are red. Violets are blue. Fuck you whore. Loneliness is overrated. I don't know how to tell you this, but there is a Chinese family in our bathroom. Nice to meet you, I'm Autumn. These are just some of the lines that stand out from this movie. Some are full of wit while some are just downright sarcastic but one could not help but smile when they are recalled. A romantic comedy with a lot of quotable quotes is a well-written movie worth a second, third, endless reruns. I am definitely buying the DVD. This is one movie that you will never get tired of seeing over and over again.

Like the narrator states, this is not a love story but rather another boy-meets-girl kind of thing. Romantic comedies are all recycled and you tend to know at once what happens and how it happens. The difference is all about the presentation, how the plot unfolds. This movie is just, oh, so unique. The different film techniques used contribute a lot to the entertainment value, of which this film has a lot.

The split screen scene where the guy's expectations and what happens in reality are presented simultaneously should be singled out. It is plain genius! Instead of using a monotonous voice over or a cliché dream sequence, the writers have found a unique way to deliver that scene. So cool! Irony and contrast served in a very creative manner.

The spontaneity of the events is a breath of fresh air and the best scene that summarizes that would be the tribute to Enchanted. Do you not wish you could just do that once in your life? Sometimes, extreme bliss is indescribable. In this movie, they choose to present it in a way that would seem very weird in real life because it never does happen but that scene just summarizes the emotion so convincingly. It is a feeling that you just cannot contain.

They downplay some scenes for comedic effect, which leaves you with that WTF expression signaling you to laugh afterward. That kissing scene in the copy room would be a very good example, also very spontaneous. Another good thing is that they do not overuse contrast just for laughs. Instead, they use it to give a better representation of love and how weird and ironic it is.

The way the scenes shuttle back and forth within the 500 days piques the curiosity of the audience. When it goes forward one gets curious as to what chain of events lead to that moment. When it goes backward one could not help but anticipate what happens next. It is not your usual linear narrative and that is what gives this film a unique edge over other romantic comedies. It is non-conventional.

Corny as it may seem, this movie just makes you want to fall in love. It makes you want to fall in love with it because it is one hell of a well-crafted piece of audio-visual bliss. It makes you want to fall in love with someone because yes, it sucks and it might hurt, but hey that is part of life! I love this movie!