Friday, July 23, 2010

A moment of gushing...

So I can't quite get to sleep. And I'm watching a movie. Ok... not just any movie. I'm watching 500 Days of Summer. And I LOVE this movie.

Narrator: This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only love two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.

Just for a bit of background, I love romantic comedies, but I'm not a romantic. Happily ever after endings make me happy, but in that sugar fix sort of way - it's great, but you know it'll never last. But what I truly love is the practical, but happy, endings. And 500 Days of Summer has the world's most honest, realistic, but optimistic, ending.

This movie tells a love story. But it's not the story of the ONE. It's the story of the one who you may have thought was the one, but was really just a false alarm. It's the story of the bliss, the misery, the excitement, the heart break of a relationship between a boy and the girl that he thinks is THE girl, but turns out to just be another girl. And how those relationships can change you.

The story isn't told chronologically. Instead it bounces from the highest point to the lowest point and to all the points in between. And it ends when he can finally let her go. And, much like in real life, the point where he finally accepts the truth is the point where he lets the one story end and another story (Will this one really be a love story? Who knows?) soon begins.

But, to be less serious and crap, I have to say my favorite moment is the dance sequence. Yes, you heard me right. There's a full-fledged, totally choreographed, I-was-walking-down-the-street-and-suddenly-had-to-dance-with-total-strangers scene. And, for just a second, Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked so much like Will Schuester that I gleeked out just a bit. And I'm ok with that.



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2 comments:

April said...

Love this movie. Didn't know anyone else had seen it. I saw it in Lexington when it was out in the theaters. Wasn't crowded!! :)

Is it on DVD now? Might have to purchase/download it.

Paige said...

It's been out on DVD for quite a while. I might have to break down and buy it one of these days.