'(500) Days of Summer' (2009)
PG-13 | August 7, 2009 | 95 mins
This is not a love story. This is a story about love.
Tom, greeting-card writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely off-guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went sour, and in doing so, Tom rediscovers his true passions in life.
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel [+]
Director: Marc Webb
Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe
Cinematographer: Eric Steelberg
Editor: Alan Edward Bell
Production Company: Dune Entertainment
Author’s Note: The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.
Rachel: Look, I know you think she was the one, but I don’t. Now, I think you’re just remembering the good stuff. Next time you look back, I, uh, I really think you should look again.
Narrator: If Tom had learned anything… it was that you can’t ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence, that’s all anything ever is, nothing more than coincidence… Tom had finally learned, there are no miracles. There’s no such thing as fate, nothing is meant to be. He knew, he was sure of it now.
Tom: You don’t want to be named as anybody’s girlfriend, and now you’re someone’s wife?
Summer: I just… I just woke up one day and I knew.
Tom: Knew what?
Summer: What I was never sure of with you.
Vance: [reading a card that Tom has written] Roses are red, violets are blue… Fuck you, whore!
Tom: Do you ever do this, you think back on all the times you’ve had with someone and you just replay it in your head over and over again and you look for those first signs of trouble?
Tom: It’s these cards and the movies and the pop songs, they’re to blame for all lies and the heartache, everything.
Narrator: Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin and they end with no lasting memory made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life.
Tom: What happens if you fall in love?
Summer: Well, you don’t believe that, do you?
Tom: It’s love. It’s not Santa Claus.
Tom: Look, we don’t have to put a label on it. That’s fine. I get it. But, you know, I just… I need some consistency.
Summer: I know.
Tom: I need to know that you’re not gonna wake up in the morning and feel differently.
Summer: And I can’t give you that. Nobody can.
Tom: Either she’s an evil, emotionless, miserable human being, or… she’s a robot.
McKenzie: Hey, don’t you have like 20 cards to write by Friday?
Tom: Nope, all done.
McKenzie: Really? Well, could you help me with mine? Because I’m running out of ways to say “Congratulations”. So far, I’ve got: “Congrats”, “Good job” and “Well done”.
Tom: Hmmm. How about…”Every day you make me proud. But today you get a card.”
McKenzie: Shit, that’s good!
Tom: I know.
Summer: I like being on my own. Relationships are messy and people’s feelings get hurt. Who needs it? We’re young. We live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Might as well have fun while we can and save the serious stuff for later.
- Jenny Beckman, the girl who is mentioned at the beginning of the movie, was a real girl who dumped one of the screenwriters, Scott Neustadter. Summer is based on this girl, and the script of the movie is based on their relationship.
- During the flashback to Summer’s job selling ice cream, Tom can be seen waiting in line.
- The studio never intended to include the documentary about love in this film, even going so far as to tell director Marc Webb not to film it. The audience’s reaction during the first test screening convinced them otherwise.
- On the screens showing the number of days in the relationship, the background art’s coloring and “mood” change to reflect the relationship’s status. Good days are brighter, and bad days are darker.
- Red is intentionally not used in this film, and the color blue is often used to represent love or happiness (Tom dancing down the street after Summer first stays, etc.). The color red does make an appearance, in Summer’s apartment where a little red origami bird can be seen. It makes a final appearance at the end when Tom meets Autumn, and the color of her blouse is red.
- Summer breaks it off with Tom on Day 290 and is married by day 476, which is a 186-day difference. Roughly estimating, Summer got married a little over six months after breaking up with Tom.
- There is a fan theory that Tom’s final conversation with Summer on the park bench was all imagined by Tom and did not really happen. Even Joseph Gordon-Levitt said he believed this was more of a scene of Tom’s coming to inner peace than actual reality. If that is accurate, then Day 408 (at Summer’s house party when he learns of her engagement) is the last time Tom ever sees Summer.
(500) Days of Summer
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2:39
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22:01
4:08
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December 22, 2009
Alternate Cover
December 22, 2009
Own the Moments
September 4, 2012