On the surface, (500) Days of Summer looks like half of the films in my Netflix queue. Full of glowy lighting, quirky characters, and songs by Regina Spektor, and more interested in mood than plot, many of these films are stylish but quickly forgotten. However, while (500) Days of Summer might look like a dozen other indie rom-coms, it uses the tropes of its genre to tell a smart, humorous, and heartwarming story that we’re still talking about ten years later.
The narrator opens the film by telling us, “This is a story about boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.” We nod and smile, and immediately forget his warning. Five minutes later, Tom announces, “I’m in love with Summer,” and we are certain that they’ll end up together despite any hardships the film throws at them. We’ve seen a ring on Summer’s finger, so we ignore every warning sign that comes next. And as a result, we begin the film in the same frame of mind as Tom: expecting true love to prevail and certain that he’ll find it with Summer.
As the film continues, we realize that this story is told entirely from Tom’s perspective, shaped completely by his feelings and perceptions. We are, essentially, another member in the group of friends listening to Tom’s stories and trying to diagnose what went wrong with his “perfect” relationship. Even when we’re not hearing directly from Tom, the film makes it clear that we’re in his head the whole time. The world reflects his moods, with a warm glow lighting the exuberant first days of his relationship and the city around him fading to gray and disappearing when he starts to lose hope. In perhaps the clearest example of Tom’s feelings reshaping reality (and one of my all-time favorite movie moments), Tom is so happy that he steps out his door and into a musical number. He proclaims along with Hall & Oates, dozens of strangers, and even an animated bird that Summer “makes his dreams come true”. Even as the moment reminds us that Tom’s perceptions of Summer are more fantasy than reality, the sheer joy of this scene is so infectious that I can’t help grinning along with him.
Of course, Tom’s inability to see past his own perceptions dooms his relationship with Summer. Trapped in his fantasies, he’s unable to hear what Summer is trying to communicate or to see past the “manic pixie dream girl” persona he’s constructed for her. So her rejection is a heartbreaking surprise, leaving Tom hurt, angry, and confused. He starts to wonder if his belief in love has been misguided, if people can truly find happiness together. More cynical films might leave Tom here, alone, certain that love itself is a fantasy. The most he could hope for, in such a film, would be to find moments of fleeting happiness with someone else, knowing that the relationship was doomed and would end in hurt sooner or later.
But the magic of (500) Days of Summer is that disappointment does not ultimately leave its characters disillusioned. Summer never believed in love, but she finds unexpected happiness after a chance encounter in a diner. And, though it may be cheesy, the film’s ending gives us hope for Tom as well. He was a hopeless romantic when we met him, and I think the film is ultimately on his side, even though he initially pursues the wrong object for his affections. He grows as a result of his relationship with Summer and meets Autumn as a better version of himself, more honest about his desires and ready to pursue his dreams even through rejection.
The narrator told us in the beginning that this isn’t a love story, and it certainly doesn’t fit our expectations of a typical romantic comedy. However, this film believes in love and encourages us not to give up hope. It reminds us that relationships are hard work, that we make mistakes and struggle to communicate, but that love is real and beautiful and joyful and messy and worth it.