''(500) Days of Summer'' is a 2009 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film directed by
Marc Webb, written by
Scott Neustadter and
Michael H. Weber
Michael H. Weber (born January 13, 1978) is an American screenwriter and producer. He and his writing partner, Scott Neustadter, are best known for writing the screenplay for the romantic comedy film ''500 Days of Summer''. The film is based on t ...
, and produced by
Mark Waters
Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director.
Early life
Waters was raised in South Bend, Indiana. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania in theatre arts before studying at the American Film Institute. When studying a ...
. The film stars
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel ( ; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She made her film debut in ''Mumford (film), Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known f ...
as Tom and Summer respectively, and in a
nonlinear narrative
Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the ...
structure, Tom chronicles the story of his relationship with Summer.
As an
independent production, the film was picked up for distribution by
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...
and premiered at the
25th Sundance Film Festival. It received positive critical reviews and became a successful "
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
", earning $60.7 million in worldwide returns, far exceeding its $7.5 million budget. Many critics lauded the film as one of the best from 2009 and drew comparisons to other acclaimed films such as ''
Annie Hall
''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer ...
'' (1977) and ''
High Fidelity
High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
'' (2000).
The movie is considered as a
cult classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
.
The film received
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
and
Best Screenplay
This list of screenwriting awards for film is an index to articles on notable awards given for film screenwriting. The list is organized by region and country of the awards venue or sponsor, but winners are not necessarily restricted to people fro ...
awards at the
14th Satellite Awards
The 14th Satellite Awards is an award ceremony honoring the year's outstanding performers, films, television shows, home videos and interactive media, presented by the International Press Academy at the InterContinental, InterContinental Hotel in ...
and
25th Independent Spirit Awards
The 25th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2009, were presented on March 5, 2010. The nominations were announced on December 1, 2009. The ceremony was hosted by Eddie Izzard.
Winners and nominees
Films wit ...
, respectively, as well as two nominations at the
67th Golden Globe Awards
The 67th Golden Globe Awards was telecasted live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it i ...
:
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and
Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Gordon-Levitt).
Plot
Tom Hansen is an aspiring architect who works as a writer at a greeting card company. He meets Summer Finn, a new employee. They discover that they have a similar taste in music. Later, at a
karaoke
is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone.
Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...
night for their work, they talk about love. Tom believes in it, but Summer does not. Tom's friend and co-worker McKenzie drunkenly reveals that Tom likes Summer, which he asserts is only "as friends", something Summer agrees with. A few days later, Summer spontaneously kisses Tom in the office. Summer is not looking for a serious relationship. Tom agrees to a
casual relationship
Casual dating or a casual relationship is a physical and emotional relationship between two people who may have casual sex or a near- sexual relationship while staying loyal to each other without necessarily demanding or expecting the addition ...
. That night, they have sex; Tom is elated.
Over the first few months of their relationship, they grow closer. Tom's friends and his preteen half-sister Rachel push him to ask Summer where they are in their relationship, though Summer brushes this off, saying that it should not matter as long as they are both happy. One night, Tom fights with a man who tries to pick Summer up in a bar, causing their first argument. They make up, and Summer concedes Tom deserves some certainty, but it would be impossible to promise she will always feel the same way about him.
Slowly, their relationship becomes less passionate, and they begin to argue continuously. Summer quits the greeting card company and breaks up with Tom, citing their evident unhappiness. Tom's boss moves him to the consolations department, as his depression is making him unsuitable for happier events. Tom goes on a
blind date
A blind date is a romantic meeting between two people who have never met before.
Both parties arrange a date with little to no information about each other, hoping for the possibility of making a lasting impression. Typically, a family member or ...
with Alison. Tom spends the date talking about Summer until Alison leaves exasperated.
Months later, Tom attends co-worker Millie's wedding and tries to avoid Summer on the train, but she spots him and invites him for coffee. They have a good time at the wedding, dance together, and Summer catches the bouquet. She invites Tom to a party at her apartment, falling asleep on his shoulder on the ride back. He attends the party, hoping to rekindle their relationship, but barely interacts with Summer, spending most of the night drinking alone, until he spots her engagement ring.
Tom leaves devastated. Further depressed, he only leaves his apartment for alcohol and junk food. After a few days, he returns to work
hung over
A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical s ...
and quits after an emotional outburst. Rachel tells Tom that she does not believe Summer was "the one" and that he only remembers happy memories of the relationship. Tom thinks harder, finally seeing moments of incompatibility he had overlooked and warning signs he had missed on the day of the breakup. One day, Tom finds the energy to get out of bed and rededicates himself to architecture, as Summer had encouraged him. He assembles a portfolio and secures job interviews.
Summer visits Tom at his favorite spot in the city. He tells her he left the office, and notes that she got married, which he cannot comprehend as she never wanted to be someone's girlfriend. Summer says she got married because she felt sure, which she did not with Tom. When he says he was wrong about true love existing, she counters that he was right about it, just wrong about it being with her. She tells him she is glad he is doing well. Tom wishes her happiness.
On Wednesday, May 23, Tom meets a woman applying for the same job. He finds she shares his favorite spot and invites her for coffee afterwards. She politely declines, then changes her mind. Her name is Autumn.
Cast
Production
Writing
The film is presented as a non-linear narrative. Each scene is introduced using a title card showing which of the 500 days it is. Co-writer of the film
Scott Neustadter admitted the film was based on a real romance. Neustadter explains that when he met the real girl who inspired the character Summer as a student at the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
in 2002, he was rebounding from a bad breakup back home, and promptly fell "crazily, madly, hopelessly in love" with the girl who "returned his kisses but not his ardor." The ending of the relationship was "painfully and unforgettably awful," which prompted him to co-write the film with Michael H. Weber. When Neustadter later showed the script to Summer's real-life counterpart, she said she related more to the Tom character. Weber also stated that, "we've all been in the trenches of love, we've all gone through the highs and lows, so Scott and I felt that the only way to tell this story was to come at it from a completely real place. It was pretty interesting for us because Scott was just going through a break-up and I was in a long-term relationship, so we each brought a totally opposite perspective, living it and not living it, and I think that tension helped to bring out more of the comedy".
Direction
Director Marc Webb has described the film as more of a "
coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
" story as opposed to a "
rom-com
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Romantic comedy e ...
". He stated, "We arrive at a different conclusion, for one thing. Plus, most romantic comedies are more loyal to a formula than to emotional truth. It's about happiness, and learning that you'll find it within yourself, rather than in the big blue eyes of the girl in the cubicle down the hall. I wanted to make an unsentimental movie and an uncynical movie. In my mind, I wanted it to be something you could dance to. That's why we put a parenthesis in the title – it's like a pop song in movie form. It's not a big film. It's not about war or poverty. It's about 500 days in a young guy's relationship, but it's no less deserving of scrutiny. When your heart is first broken, it consumes you. And it's an emotion I wanted to make a movie about, before I forgot how it felt".
Webb also stated that Deschanel's character, Summer, is based on a
stock character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...
type; "Yes, Summer is an immature view of a woman. She's Tom's view of a woman. He doesn't see her complexity and the consequence for him is heartbreak. In Tom's eyes, Summer is perfection, but perfection has no depth. Summer's not a girl, she's a phase."
Gordon-Levitt explained that he was drawn to the role of Tom because of his relatability to the character. "I've had my heart broken before. Truly, truly broken. But when I look back at me in my heartbroken phase, it's pretty hilarious, because it felt so much more extreme than it really was. One of the things I love about ''(500) Days of Summer'' is that it doesn't make light of what we go through in romances, but it is honest about it and shows it for what it is, which is often profoundly funny".
Filming locations

David Ng of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' describes architecture as a star of the film.
Tom is seen reading
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993) ...
's ''
The Architecture of Happiness''.
The film was originally set in San Francisco but was later moved to Los Angeles and the script rewritten to make better use of the location.
[
] Buildings used include the
Los Angeles Music Center
The Los Angeles Music Center (officially the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pa ...
(which includes the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center, which is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt ...
) and the towers of
California Plaza.
The older
Fine Arts Building is featured in the film, in a scene where Tom shows it to Summer and mentions its designers,
Walker and Eisen
Walker & Eisen (1919−1941) was an architectural partnership between Albert Raymond Walker and Percy Augustus Eisen best known for the numerous historic buildings they designed throughout California, particularly in and around Los Angeles. They ...
, two of his favorite architects.
Christopher Hawthorne of the ''Los Angeles Times'' describes the film as having "finely honed sense of taste" to include the
Bradbury Building
The Bradbury Building is an architectural landmark in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. Built in 1893, the five-story office building is best known for its extraordinary skylit atrium of access walkways, stairs and elevators, and ...
where Tom goes for his job interview.
Tom's favorite spot in Los Angeles was shot at Angel's Knoll, which became a popular tourist attraction after the film's release. Since July 2013 it has been closed off to the public due to state cutbacks. In his article about cinematic cartography, Dr. Chris Lukinbeal suggests that the location of Angel's Knoll mirrors Tom's view of the world. He argues that Tom only perceives the beauty of the buildings surrounding them and only acknowledges the parking lot when Summer points it out to him. He states that "Tom is also unable to see beyond his expectations of hopeless romance."
Costume design
Costume designer, Hope Hanafin has revealed through interviews that Marc Webb insisted on the color blue being worn exclusively by Summer. He based his decision on Zooey Deschanel's eye color, but as Hanafin disclosed, it works on a subconscious level as well, attracting attention at all times. The only scene to break this "rule" is the Hall & Oates dance sequence where many of the extras appear in blue. "The point of that was to show that, in his morning-after glow, Tom's whole world is a reflection of Summer".
The costumes are a mixture of vintage and
fast fashion
Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term ''fast ...
with the emphasis on staying realistic to what the characters could afford. Summer's wardrobe is refreshing and stylish without anything tying it to the years around the film's release which gives the aesthetics a timeless quality.
Soundtrack
Two
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
s were released for ''(500) Days of Summer''. The first, consisting of various
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
songs from the film, was released through
Sire Records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
History Beginnings
The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...
and reached no. 42 on the
''Billboard'' 200 sales chart. Andrew Leahey of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
rated the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "With music playing such an integral role in the story line, it's refreshing to see that the accompanying soundtrack does its job well, distilling the characters' record collections (not to mention the movie's quirky, nostalgic ambiance) into one eclectic track list."
The second album consists of the film's musical score, composed by
Mychael Danna
Mychael Danna (born September 20, 1958) is a Canadian composer of film and television scores. He won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Score for '' Life of Pi''. He has also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Compositio ...
and
Rob Simonsen
Rob Simonsen (born March 11, 1978) is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his scores in films such as ''500 Days of Summer'' (2009), ''The Age of Adaline'' (2015), ''Gifted'' (2017), '' The Only Living Boy in New York'' (2017 ...
.
Marketing
To help promote the film, Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel starred in the debut episode of
Microsoft Zune
Zune was a brand of digital media products and services that was marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until it was discontinued in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, a music subscription service known as Zune Music ...
and ''Mean Magazine''s ''Cinemash'' series. In the episode, they "mash" the characters from the film ''
Sid and Nancy
''Sid and Nancy'' (also known as ''Sid and Nancy: Love Kills'') is a 1986 British biographical film directed by Alex Cox, co-written with Abbe Wool, and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious, bassist of ...
'' with story elements from ''(500) Days of Summer''.
Marc Webb created a music video as a companion piece to the film, titled "The Bank Heist". It features Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt dancing to "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?", a song by Deschanel's folk group
She & Him
She & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel (vocals, piano, ukulele) and M. Ward (guitar, production). It was formed in 2006 in Portland, Oregon.Scaggs, Austin"Smoking Section: Modest Mouse, Zooey Deschanel, Kings of Leo ...
.
Webb remarked, "when we didn't include Zooey in the dance sequence
n ''500 Days'' she was a little heartbroken and I felt like I needed to remedy that."
Release

The film made its debut at the
25th Sundance Film Festival. It proved a huge success and received a
standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding, often after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim.
Standing ovations are considered to be a special honor. Often they are ...
from festival crowds upon screening.
In Europe, ''(500) Days of Summer'' premiered in Switzerland as the opening film of the 62nd
Locarno Film Festival
The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
.
Filmed
independently, it was picked up for distribution by
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...
and opened in the United States and Canada on July 17, 2009, later expanding to wide release on August 7, 2009.
It was later also released on September 2, 2009, in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and opened in Australia on September 17, 2009.
Reception
Box office
Upon the film's initial
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the U.S, it was expected to become the "breakout
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
*Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests
*Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...
hit of the summer".
By September 8, the film had taken in $1.9 million from 318 screens in the United Kingdom. This was regarded as a successful five-day opening by Fox Searchlight, earning around half as much as the science-fiction blockbuster ''
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand ...
'', which took in $3.5 million.
The film ended up grossing $32.4 million in the United States and Canada and $60.7 million worldwide.
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 230 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A clever, offbeat romantic comedy, ''(500) Days of Summer'' is refreshingly honest and utterly charming."
At the website's year-end "Golden Tomato Awards", which honored the best reviewed films of 2009, the film placed second in the romantic category.
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' gave the film four stars out of four, describing the film as "a delightful comedy, alive with invention". He particularly praised the strong performances of Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel and summarized his review by adding, "Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why".
''
Premiere
A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work.
History
Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
'' also awarded the film four stars out of four, stating "Much like the actual summer (the season, not the character), we never wanted it to end".
Michael Ordoña of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote, "''(500) Days of Summer'' is something seldom seen: an original romantic comedy. It bristles with energy, emotion and intellect, as it flits about the dizzying highs and weeping-karaoke lows of a passionate entanglement".
Dana Stevens of ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'' also praised the film and described it as "a keeper. It's fun both to watch and to talk about afterward, and it possesses the elusive rom-com sine qua non: two equally appealing leads who bounce wonderfully off each other".
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' critic
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
gave the film an "A", and also praised the originality of the story; "Most romantic comedies have half a dozen situations at best: Meet Cute, Infatuation, Pop Song Montage, Contrived Mix-Up, Angry Breakup, and Final Clinch. ''(500) Days of Summer'' is about the many unclassifiable moments in between. It's a feat of star acting, and it helps make ''500 Days'' not just bitter or sweet but everything in between".
''
Film Threat
''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...
'' critic Scott Knopf gave the film a maximum five stars, writing: "Of course they meet. Of course they fall for each other. Of course there are problems. It sounds cliché but what's remarkable about ''500 Days'' is how the film explores new ways to tell the world's oldest story". He concluded that the film was "the best romantic comedy since ''
Love Actually
''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...
''."
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' gave the film three and a half stars out of four. He wrote, "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl. It's been done to emo death. That's why the sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad ''(500) Days of Summer'' hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and concludes: "''500 Days'' is otherwise a different kind of love story: an honest one that takes a piece out of you".
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
's Claudia Puig wrote: "Much like ''
Annie Hall
''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer ...
'' did for a previous generation, ''(500) Days of Summer'' may be the movie that best captures a contemporary romantic sensibility."
''
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' critic Eric Goldman gave the film 9 out of 10, and praised the film as "one of the best of 2009" and particularly complimented the innovative nature of the story in an often
cliché
A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...
d genre; "''(500) Days of Summer'' proved there is a way to bring something fresh and new to one of the most cliché and often frustrating genres – the romantic comedy".
A.O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic, known for his film and literary criticism. After starting his career at ''The New York Review of Books'', ''Variety'', and ''Slate'', he began writing film ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' gave the film 4 out of 5 and called it "Slight, charming and refreshingly candid little picture."
Scott Tobias of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' graded the film B−, but criticized it for its "dispiriting clichés," which make it "wind up in a no-man's land between Hollywood and something real." ''
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
'' was more dismissive: "For all its rhetorical whimsy and hipster dressings, ''(500) Days of Summer'' is a thoroughly conservative affair, as culturally and romantically status quo as any Jennifer Aniston vehicle." Joe Morgenstern of ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' was also more critical, calling it, "synthetic and derivative, a movie that's popping with perceptions while searching for a style."
British newspaper ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' gave a mixed review. Despite
Toby Young
Toby Daniel Moorsom Young, Baron Young of Acton (born 17 October 1963), is a British social commentator and life peer. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', creator of '' The Daily S ...
awarding the film three stars out of five, he critiqued, "It is hardly the freshest romantic comedy of past 20 years. Taking the best bits from other movies and rearranging them in a non-linear sequence does not make for an original film." ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' film critic
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educat ...
said the film was "let down by sitcom cliches, and by being weirdly incurious about the inner life of its female lead."
Mark Adams of the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'', though, gave the film a glowing review, awarding it a full five stars, and writing, "It is a modern romance for grown-ups... a sweet-natured, funny, deeply-romantic tale that brims with energy and is blessed with top-notch performances by Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt, who are both charming and have real chemistry".
''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote: "Perfectly played, simultaneously serious and light, endlessly inventive, this is a strong contender for the most original date movie of the year."
Top Ten lists
The film was also included in several "Top Ten" year-end lists for 2009 by various film critics.
Cultural impact
In the Entertainment Weekly's interview of the 10th anniversary of the film's release, the lead actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, addressed its cultural impact and the viewers' frequent misconception of their characters, such as thinking Summer is a villain. Even though the film is told from Tom's point of view, "Summer is completely honest the entire movie." Gordon-Levitt repeatedly warned against sympathizing with his character Tom, who "develops a mildly delusional obsession over a girl onto whom he projects all these fantasies
..That's falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person."
Accolades
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber received numerous awards for their screenplay; including the 2009
Hollywood Film Festival
The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Los Angeles, California, USA.
History
The Hollywood Film Festival was established in 1997 by author and producer Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.P ...
's Hollywood Breakthrough Screenwriter Award on October 26, 2009, the
Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay is an annual award given by the International Press Academy
The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic ...
, the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay (with the film also being named in the Top Ten Films of the Year), as well as the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay.
Alan Edward Bell won the
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing,
[Critics Elsewhere Weigh In On Years' Best]
" Dec 30, 2009, San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved Dec 4, 2017 as well as the film being named one of the ten best movies of the year by the
National Board of Review Awards 2009
81st NBR Awards
January 12, 2010
----
Best Film:
'' Up in the Air''
The 81st National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2009, are given on January 12, 2010.
Top 10 Films
'' Up in the Air''The NBR names its Best Film and ...
.
The film also received two nominations at the
67th Golden Globe Awards
The 67th Golden Globe Awards was telecasted live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it i ...
announced on December 15, 2009, for
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and for Joseph Gordon-Levitt for
Best Actor – Musical or Comedy.
It has been nominated for four
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...
and won the award for
Best Screenplay
This list of screenwriting awards for film is an index to articles on notable awards given for film screenwriting. The list is organized by region and country of the awards venue or sponsor, but winners are not necessarily restricted to people fro ...
.
References
External links
Archivedof
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{{Marc Webb
2009 films
2009 directorial debut films
2009 independent films
2009 romantic comedy-drama films
2000s American films
2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films
2000s English-language films
American coming-of-age comedy-drama films
American films with live action and animation
American independent films
American nonlinear narrative films
American romantic comedy-drama films
Dune Entertainment films
English-language independent films
English-language romantic comedy-drama films
Fiction about origami
Fiction with unreliable narrators
Films about depression
Films directed by Marc Webb
Films produced by Mason Novick
Films scored by Mychael Danna
Films scored by Rob Simonsen
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
Fox Searchlight Pictures films
Satellite Award–winning films