(500) Days of Summer

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER           B+                      

USA  (96 mi)  2009  ‘Scope  d  Marc Webb

“It’s love, it’s not Santa Claus.” 

—Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Leavitt)

It’s inevitable that the success of JUNO (2007), and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006) before that, have affected the style of recent indie films, especially with the highly personalized soundtracks and the addition of a whimsical narration poking fun of a wretched miserablism that might not otherwise be there at all.   But in this film, the mocking tone is set before the opening credits, as writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber feature a highly incendiary brief statement of purpose that precedes the film which probably gets the biggest laugh in the entire movie.  Along with Greg Mottola’s Adventureland (2009), these are two of the better written summer romance comedies in awhile, as despite the formulaic artificiality of style which demands keeping a film light and funny, both are smart enough to get at the awkwardness aspect of love relationships without neglecting the importance of equally significant secondary friendships.   Told out of time over the course of 500 days, liberally moving backwards and forwards in order to explore both the in and out phases of unrequited love, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played the youngest alien on 3rd Rock from the Sun and was brilliant in Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN (2004), as Tom Hansen (stealing Johnny Depp’s name from 21 Jump Street?) and Zooey Deschanel as Summer Finn (hence, the name of the movie), having a year and a half courtship where he’s a hopeless romantic whole-heartedly in love with her but she’s upfront from the beginning about not being fully committed, just wanting to be friends, preferring instead to remain independent.  But the ever-charming Deschanel is the offbeat girl of our dreams, as she’s never fit the Hollywood style of gorgeous, so of course she’s a natural at not playing any ordinary love story, instead she’s got extraordinary camera presence where she feels so damned comfortable with herself, free of any pretense, which is enormously appealing.  Gordon-Levitt on the other hand has to play much of this film with that droopy, hang dog expression on his face filled with disappointment, the one that looks like he has a “kick me” sign taped on his back.  The film is told entirely through his point of view, including the many versions of Deschanel that he envisions, but oddly enough, also a much older sounding, stuffy Masterpiece Theater style narration from Jean-Paul Vignon that has an annoyingly derisive tone that mysteriously offers up the ending at the beginning, much like a murder mystery, leaving that poor soul in love still reeling in disbelief.    

Both Deschanel and Gordon-Leavitt work so well together that their on again and off again romance feels perfectly natural, where the editing style of moving back and forth in time seems designed to offset their highs and lows, where it’s easy to put ourselves in their position, as they’re two such likeable characters.  But despite Deschanel’s predilection to play melancholy (see David Gordon Green’s 2003 film All the Real Girls), she’s surprisingly upbeat here and beautifully counters some of the straight-laced tendencies of Gordon-Leavitt, who spends much of the film conservatively wearing a tie.  Supposedly a frustrated architecture student, he’s instead landed a job designing greeting cards, where he’s a whiz coming up with ideas while he’s in the throes of love, but as he grows darker and more introverted from being jilted in love, he feels like damaged goods where cards offer no consolation.   Their time onscreen, however, no matter the mood, always feels authentic, as it’s a wonderful tug of war between dreams and expectations running into the inevitable indifference of reality, where at one point the director ingeniously uses a split screen technique with expectations and reality running simultaneously, where it’s surprising how similar they are up to a point, but also heartbreaking how different they turn out to be.  Earlier the director used a similar split screen technique where both children’s lives evolve through home movies.  In perhaps the most outlandish move, Gordon-Leavitt’s world turns into a jaw-droppingly joyous Bollywood dance fest (choreographed by Michael Rooney) after they finally make love, where he deliriously dances and interacts with everyone on the street, including a Disney animated bluebird and a wink from none other than Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, all set to the music of Hall & Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True” 500 Days of Summer - Scene You Make My Dreams Come True ... (2:05).

   

Shot in Los Angeles locations by Eric Steelberg, who also shot JUNO, this film would never work without a kickass soundtrack, where music is such a central part of these kid’s lives, initially meeting in an elevator while he’s listening to the Smith’s “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” 500 days of Summer-The Smiths- - YouTube (55 seconds) on his headphones, eventually leading to them both separately singing surprisingly soulful karaoke renditions, as he sings “Here Comes Your Man” by the Pixies (500) Days of Summer #9 Movie CLIP - Tom Does Karaoke ... - YouTube (1:16) while she lights up the screen with the Lee Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra duet “Sugar Town” Zooey Deschanel - Sugar Town (Subtitulos en Español) HD - YouTube (3:59).  In between somewhere, there’s a black and white film-within-a-film where Gordon-Leavitt imagines himself stuck inside a French miserablist film with no way out, eventually ending as a Bergman spoof.  Chloe Moretz should be mentioned as Rachel, his younger sister, in something of a tribute to Abigail Breslin’s role as Olive in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, playing a 10-year old girl who’s actually more experienced and mature in matters of love than he is.  After spending the entire film deconstructing the typical Hollywood love story, basically reprogramming the audience’s expectations by refusing to allow the couple to succeed, something only hinted at in the disappearing memory play and disoriented editing structure of Charlie Kaufmann and Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004), the question becomes does the director lose his nerve and retreat back into a safe and formulaic ending, something that could just as easily have been chosen by an audience poll, as it lacks the refreshing originality of the rest of the film, or does he simply allow fate to run its course and end one relationship to allow another one to begin?  Despite a certain disappointment in the crash and burn realization that they are ultimately not right for each other, spelling doom and defeat, the cleverness of the final sequence couldn’t be more uplifting, where the outstanding performances of the two leads never disappoints, keeping the interest level up throughout the entire film, raising the intensity of this curiously witty and constantly amusing film. 

Elf

ELF                 B+                  

USA  (95 mi)  2003  d:  Jon Favreau

Probably my wife and daughter’s all-time favorite movie.  Sure it’s cornball, described as “so profoundly ridiculous that it has to be admired,” but the terrific cast, well designed Christmas sequences, some truly inspired musical choices, and out and out laughter makes this a terrific holiday pick, the kind of movie that’s sure to pick up some of those lagging spirits.  Will Ferrell plays the role of his lifetime as a human that mistakenly ends up at the North Pole raised by Santa (Ed Asner) and the Elves, specifically Papa Elf, who is none other than Bob Newhart.  As an elf named Buddy who is incapable of being anything but nice, Ferrell is a misfit, as despite having the Christmas spirit, the primary goal of all elves, he towers in size over them in their tiny workshops and doesn’t possess their flair for making toys.  When he overhears the other elves talking about him, as he can never make his Christmas quota, he realizes, at last, that he’s human, and goes to New York City in search of his dad, passing through a winter wonderland that resembles movies from Christmas past like RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1964). 

Immediately the film turns on a dime.  To the upbeat, jazzy sounds of Louis Prima singing “Pennies from Heaven” Pennies from Heaven (From "Elf") - YouTube (2:24), we see Buddy’s incomprehensible innocence, his honest charm of age 30 going on 10 mix with the cut throat cynicism of New Yorkers, expressed by the choice of his real dad, James Caan as Walter, always the hard ass ever since his role as Sonny Corleone, a guy who’s so wrapped up in his job, he hardly ever looks at his wife (Mary Steenburgen) or son Michael (Daniel Tay).  Buddy, dressed as usual in his bright green elf suit, wanders up to Walter’s office suite at a publishing firm in the Empire State Building and the entire staff gathers around thinking he’s a Chistmas sing-a-gram, cheerfully waiting for a funny message.  When Buddy tells him he’s his father, Walter yanks him out of there pronto believing he’s a nut case, but Buddy screams out the name of his mother, which registers distant memories.  When the security guards suggest as a joke that he join the elves at Gimbels across the street, they never dreamed that they saved Buddy’s life, as the department store manager, seeing him dressed as a green elf, immediately assumes he belongs in the North Pole display where Buddy spots the positively delightful Zooey Deschanel as Jovie decorating a tree.  After she tells him to back off when he approaches, she’s amused when Buddy flips out when he hears Santa Claus is coming the next morning at 10 am, and promptly spends the entire night decorating for Santa’s visit.

Buddy awakes in Gimbels to the sounds of Jovie singing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Elf - Baby Its Cold Outside - YouTube (1:24) in the employee shower, blissfully joining in after awhile which scares the pants off of both of them, Buddy fleeing immediately when he realizes she’s naked.  But they become fast friends when she realizes Buddy possesses a strange honesty, getting kicked out of Gimbels after exposing a department store Santa Claus as being a fraud, telling him “You sit on a throne of lies!”  Meanwhile, even after a paternity test, Walter can’t believe this “deranged elf man” can possibly be his son, but when they realize he has nowhere else to go, he stays with them, rearranging their decor into holiday cheer.  Michael is embarrassed by him as well until he rescues him with a dazzling display in a snowball fight, taking renewed interest on the spot, actually encouraging Buddy to ask Jovie out on a date, which is priceless moment in the film, as he exposes her to his infectious charm of silly fun, beautifully sequenced together to the voice of Frank Sinatra singing “You Make Me Feel So Young” Buddy & Jovie's Date ("Elf" the Film) - YouTube (2:02).

By this time, despite the breezy, lightweight quality of the film, the audience gets swept away into Buddy’s world, which Farrell renders as totally harmless, beautifully expressed in a hilarious fight scene with a real midget, Peter Dinklage, who takes serious offense to Buddy’s repeated references calling him an elf.  There’s a lot to like in this film, which despite being completely family oriented for kids of all ages, has the tiniest bit of edge to it for adults, such as Santa’s snide reference to the horse mounted New York City Police Rangers, who, after their offensive display at the Simon and Garfunkel concert in the park in 1985, forced him to put them on his naughty list.  It’s a feel good film that actually has a delightful sweep about it, remaining intelligent throughout, briskly paced, closing with a festive note, not the least of which is Ray Charles voice singing “Winter Wonderland” Ray Charles Winter Wonderland - YouTube (3:27) over the end credits.