(500) Days of Summer

Refreshing! Delightful!

This film was a big hit at the Sundance Film Festival. It is a perfect summer delight. The characters are so real and genuine. It is a boy meets girl story with an unexpected ending.

The story covers 500 days of the relationship between Tom and Summer. Sometimes the days follow a linear pattern. Sometimes the script goes back to a former day. It isn’t confusing. It is delightful.

Sometimes the story is told by a narrator. Initially we see pictures of the two main characters as babies and young children. It was such great fun.

Tom was an aspiring architect but gave it up to be a writer for a greeting card company. There is a lot of humor amongst the staff about the writings for greeting cards.

Tom is immediately smitten with the darling Summer when she comes to work as the assistant to the boss. She states at the beginning that she is not interested in having a boyfriend. She is cool and adorable. She is also very refreshing. She was so funny when she freely sang out at a karaoke bar. It was even more hysterical when she repeatedly shouted out the word ‘penis’ while the couple was enjoying a summer day in the park.

As the days pass they become friendlier. They have such fun together.

Whenever they break up it is his younger sister who seems to be the philosopher and the soother of shattered nerves. The sister tells Tom him that all her girlfriends are in love with him.

At one point the boss calls Tom into his office to ask what is wrong with him. Tom expects to be fired. The boss tells him that his sadness over the upset of Summer should be translated into writing suitable words for the Sympathy section of the greeting cards.

The relationship has on and off moments. When Tom is with Summer he is happy and content. When she leaves him he goes ‘over the edge.’

The ending is not a typical American ending but I found it very satisfying.