(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Saw this one courtesy of Phantom 105.2 Thanks guys!

(500) Days of Summer is essentially a love story. I know it says it isn't, but it is. It may be a quirky indie love story, but it's still a love story. I wouldn't let that put you off though; that is, if you are the kind of person who is put off by love stories. Personally I'm not but off by the idea but that's because I like a good weepy film... this isn't actually one of those but it still has plenty to recommend it.

First up is Joeeph Gordon-Levitt; who I suspect will be known as "that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun" long after the kids who've never heard of 3rd Rock from the Sun grow up. I'd like it if he were known as "that guy from Brick" but that's not going to happen. Brick, by the way, is a great film but to be honest, it's not for everyone...

Anyway... the last film I saw with Mr. Gordon-Levitt was Stop-Loss. I thought he could have done better in that one, it was ok but it was no great shakes, fortunately that isn't the case with this one. I do think he puts on a strong performance as the lead in this, he's likeable as Tom Hansen and not too whiny, which could have been a risk with another actor in this part.

Zooey Deschanel performs ably in her role as well. Summer Finn not as well-developed a character - it wouldn't be, since the story is told through Tom's eyes really - but with a weaker actress it would have been easy for the character to just hang there as a cold bitch and I don't think this was the case.

The supporting characters all worked for me too... in particular there was a line from Matthew Gray Gubler's character that I really liked. I won't quote it here but if you can guess which one is was (I think it's obvious anyway) then comment, I'm just wondering if it stood out to other people as well...

The only problem with me saying that I liked the characters is that (500) Days of Summer is undoubtedly one of those films which will be seen differently through different eyes. It's about a relationship and everyone's lives are coloured by different relationships, good, bad and indifferent. I can't imagine it will be possible for anyone to watch this without relating to it somehow, even if the feeling is a thanks that you're not anything like any of them.

Through my eyes it was a cute story about a mis-matching of emotions, an amusing look at a modern relationship. I liked how it was all told in a very genuine way, after all, it's a story that's been played out a thousand times in real life and on the silver screen and for once it was nice to see the two tellings match. Funnily enough I found myself wishing that Tom was someone I knew, just so I could give him advice like all the other characters... but then again that might just be because I'm nosy.

So, (500) Days of Summer is definitely a film worth seeing if you're in the mood for that kind of thing; but it really is a film you have to be in the mood for. If you fancy seeing The Final Destination or Inglourious Basterds then don't go see this just because they're sold out... on the other hand if you were thinking about The Time Traveller's Wife then this might be a good alternative.

8/10 - but like I said on twitter, I'd like to see it again to be sure it wasn't too clichéd. I'm not sure I was entirely focused on it and I'd like to have been, who knows? Maybe it was better than 8/10...

Stop-Loss (2008)

Stop-Loss refers to the Stop-loss policy used by the US Military to involuntarily extend the length of active duty that a US service member undertakes. Basically it means that even when a soldier has reached their agreed date for the end of their active duty, the military can invoke the policy to send that soldier back to active duty. It has been described in some quarters as a "back-door draft". This film is about a one such fine soldier (played by Ryan Phillipe) who has been stop-lossed and what happens to him and his close knit group.

To be honest Stop-Loss is one of those films that just doesn't really go anywhere... Ok now, lots of films don't go anywhere, but they aren't really meant to and it works. Stop-Loss is not one of those film. Being generous I'll say that there was a kernal of an idea there and also I actually do admire that they made the film in the sense that while I'd heard of this "back-door draft" I didn't know much about it and it's not something you hear about that much over here. So that was interesting. Also because I'm a bit of a pinko it appealed to the liberal side of me. All well and good however, it's just not that good a film.

There are moments to it, there are good scenes and decent performances, but on the whole I just couldn't tell if it wanted to be all out against war, if it just wanted to show the stresses that soldiers are put through, how war changes them, how the people at home are affected by it or just highlight the practice of stop-loss and come out against it, or not. Honestly, the film just didn't follow through on any of them really and ultimately it was pretty unsatisfying. It had a good premise, I liked the range of characters that it covered but since it never really added enough depth to any of them it's hard to say that it was really worth making in the first place.

Anyway, like I said, there were good parts. I particularly liked seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt - I liked him in 3rd Rock From The Sun and I loved Brick so it was great to see him in the film, though... like everyone in this film, he probably could have done more.

Ah, it's frustrating, thinking back there were good scenes and while the characters were somewhat stereotypical they weren't really overly so, so it could have gotten away with it if it was just a tighter film. I'd loved to have liked this film but it just didn't have the focus that it needed to make it relevent and in the end it just petered away into the ether. Forgettable.