Search found 2 matches: Zooey Deschanel

Stewball wrote:Who said it was a parody? And it wasn't really a comedy either. I don't think I laughed once even during the first time I saw it. As for the few cliches, we are warned at the very start that it wasn't a love story, which tells us that any such love story cliches are a set up.

It's a parable with a vital message hitting dead on target, a message that isn't revealed until the very end of the movie, and one I guess I'm unable to communicate (not for lack of trying). It isn't rational conclusion that true love doesn't exist beyond coincidence, it's the emotional message is that there is no fated love, no kismet, that "Nothing is meant to be". We have to work to find it, but we are aided by the fact that there are millions of fish in the sea.

So you say the message is that fated love doesn't exist...and then, in your very next sentence, that it DOES exist, but one just has to work hard to find it? So which is it? By the way, anytime a film's message has to be told to the audience by a freaking narrator, it's lost that particular battle already. Finally, the idea that "true love" doesn't exist is hardly an interesting or original idea in cinema.

The movie's wit seems solely limited to indie bands and film meta references.

You complement it and demean it at the same time? The "Autumn" thing was indeed clever, but it was only gravy. When she says it, he looks directly at the camera. He's learned his lesson, and the hope is that the audience has too without having to diminish it by spelling it out.

The narrator telling us point blank what the "lesson" is isn't spelling it out for us? Anyways, I wasn't demeaning the ending; corny ideas can work sometimes, especially in a romantic comedy. And a lot of moments that worked in 500 Days of Summer were really silly, but funny nonetheless.

I liked every element, even the kid, the flashback/forward (which had me worried at first), and that Summer was aloof for a purpose--she was not a match for him.

I don't know if this was what you were implying, but I have no problem with Summer being aloof, but with her personality as a whole, which is a Frankenstein patchwork of various romcom female leads and what the writers considered "quirky".

Writing good female characters is hard, but in this particular film, vital. The creators of "500 Days of Summer" woefully failed at the task, and Zooey Deschanel's "acting" didn't help matters, either.

Finally got a chance to watch this. Here is a much longer review than my Criticker blurb that I posted on another forum;

500 Days of Summer (2009)-

Two hipsters in their early 20s, Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), go through the ups and downs of a romantic relationship.

The film has some "big ideas", and tries to subvert the standard romantic comedy formula. Problem is, the movie itself is mired in the same cliches! Tom is the wussy, insecure, weak-willed guy. Summer is the beautiful, enigmatic, suave and confident female. There is an unlikely source of sage advice, in this case, irritatingly enough, Tom's 10 year old younger sister.

Now, if it were simply a parody, that would be okay. However, 500 Days of Summer is nowhere NEAR funny enough for that.

If it was meant to be something deeper and more significant, not only does its crutch on cliches hurt, but so does the lack of any type of serious message. "True love" doesn't exist beyond coincidence? That's the only wisdom you can muster?

That would be okay, but the film has two other giant problems. First of all, it is frequently boring and poorly paced. It's a mere 90 minutes long, and yet, while I was watching it in my hotel room, I checked my watch no fewer than half a dozen times. There is literally ONLY 40-50 minutes of real content to the entire movie! So many scenes are pointless repetition, and do nothing to advance the story of Tom and Summer's relationship.

Finally, Summer, whether through poor acting or poor writing, is quite literally no one at all. Instead, she's a Frankenstein created from a patchwork of different, contradictory ideas and sources. Part "ideal woman", part "aloof pretty girl", part "Hollywood's idea of a jaded, realistic 20-something", she ends up being more boring than any of them, and even less relatable.

You know where you can find examples of truly interesting, quirky, and fucking awesome girlfriends? Go read a Haruki Murakami novel, and choose ANY female he describes in depth. That's exactly the type of woman the director and writers were going for...and totally failed.

Listen, the film has its good points; Joseph Gordon Levitt, while I'm not enamored with him, gives a competent, decent performance.

The love/hate montage of the same features of Summer was absolutely hilarious. The song and dance number was inspired and funny. Unfortunately, creative editing will only get you so far, especially when there is so little real content, and the core is so weak.

50/100