(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

7/10/2013

(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

♥♥♥♥♥

The refreshing, eclectic poster for Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer

A greeting card writer, Tom, falls for his boss' new assistant, but their romance becomes problematic, because while he believes in fate and love, she believes in keeping things casual.

(500) Days of Summer is one of those films where the end is revealed in the title, - and the narrator makes this even clearer at the onset. The film's indie-cool parameter is blinking red; what with protagonist Tom's unlikely, creative vocation, the animated sequences, and even a dance scene in a park, - along with the casting of two of the day's cutest actors, talented Joseph Gordon Levitt (Lincoln (2012)) and indie-folk singer/actress, Zooey Deschanel (Our Idiot Brother (2011)).
Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)), a music video director, makes his feature debut here with an original script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Fault in Our Stars (2014), both). They have chosen the uncommon LA as background for this romance, and succeed in making the city, which is widely regarded as flat, huge and not very romantic, seem both interesting and romantic.
The film also benefits from lots of smart editing, (the scene with expectations vs. reality is especially fine), and fine supporting performances from Geoffrey Arend (Worst Friends (2014)) and Matthew Gray Gubler (Beautiful Girl (2014)) as Tom's friends, who bring liberating laughs to this sweet little pearl of a film.

Related posts:

Marc Webb: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel practically battling each other in cuteness in Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7.5 mil. $
Box office: 60.7 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 8.09 times the cost)
[(500) Days of Summer premiered 17 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 95 minutes. Neustadter has revealed that the script is based on a real romance and breakup of his. Filming took place from April - July 2008 in LA, using several notable buildings in the city. The film opened #12 to a 834k $ first weekend in 27 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,048 theaters (different weeks), grossing 32.3 mil. $ (53.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.5 mil. $ (12.4 %) and Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (12 %). The film appeared on several critical top 10 lists of the year and got nominated for two Golden Globes and 3 Independent Spirit Awards, winning for Best Screenplay. Webb returned with 8 short and TV-series episodes before he hit theaters again with The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Gordon-Levitt returned in Women in Trouble (2009), Deschanel in 6 short and TV-series credits before Our Idiot Brother (2011). (500) Days of Summer is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.6/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of (500) Days of Summer?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

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7/10/2013

(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

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