Not a single movie watched at the theatre this whole year, then suddenly two in just this one week?

What’s going on with me?

Anyway, I’ve always said that I need a good reason to persuade me to go to the theatre and this week I had two pretty good reasons, so off I went.

Now on to the movie proper.

I could probably write a million words about this movie, but I’ll try to keep it succinct…

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(*Warning* Potential Spoilers Ahead! But I’ll Try Not To Reveal Too Much.)

I guess the rave reviews for this movie were spot on: I think I’ve just watched one of the greatest movies ever, in my opinion.

And that is not really saying that much, cos I don’t watch many movies.

But “(500) Days of Summer” has just entered my top 5 all-time greatest movies list, together with the likes of “The Sound of Music”, “American Gangster”, etc.

It’s just so real.

I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie that is so real.

And sad. It’s one of the saddest movies ever.

Everything is portrayed so truthfully that you can’t help but believe in everything that is being shown.

They’ve done an excellent job capturing the very essence of what it means to fall in love with someone who won’t fall in love with you.

(As they’ve clearly stated right at the beginning of the movie: “This is not a love story.”)

I mean, I’ve come across typical Hollywood movies with touching scenes which made me want to tear, but for this one, the tearing was all done inside. And it was even sadder than shedding a real tear.

It’s definitely not your typical Hollywood rom-com.

This one is different.

Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is in my opinion the quintessential male rom-com actor.

If Katherine Heigl is the quintessential rom-com female lead, then Gordon-Levitt is the male version.

Tom is totally believable, and totally likeable.

I can’t really describe what his type is exactly, but once you see him you’d understand what I mean.

You can’t help but root for him the entire time.

You know what he’s going through when he starts to fall in love with Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel).

You feel for him when he starts to get really confused and frustrated cos he can’t tell for sure if Summer loves him back.

You feel for him when Summer blows hot and cold on him (and it drives him nuts).

And of course when Summer dropped the ultimate bomb on him at the end, your heart just totally goes out to him.

It’s one of those movies which is so tragic that you wished it would never happen in real life, but the sadder thing is that we all know it happens all too often in real life.

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Random Thoughts

As you know, I like to think about things, so here were some of my thoughts as I watched the movie:

I’m not sure if anybody noticed, but there is a switch in ideologies between Tom and Summer in the movie.

Tom starts out believing in the notion of “true love” but ends up being totally disillusioned by it all.

Summer starts out not believing in the notion of “true love” but ends up being in love and *ahem* (shan’t spoil it for you guys).

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At one point in the movie Tom says to Summer “I need some consistency!” or something to that effect.

That’s because she was blowing hot and cold on him and it was driving him insane.

And I think that’s one of the most painful things for Tom.

But I think that hot and cold is always a warning sign – if ever a girl blows hot and cold, it usually means it’s bad…never good.

But then again, Tom, just like us guys, is always going to be bad at reading the signs…and continues to be tormented by the mixed signals that Summer is giving him throughout the movie.

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A few weeks ago I wrote about the song “She’s Like The Wind” by Patrick Swayze.

And this song was briefly featured in the movie a few times.

Great song! I love it.

And they couldn’t have chosen a better song to describe the situation…cos indeed, Summer was just like the wind to Tom.

Go listen to the song.

It’s fantastic.

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If there was one moment in the entire movie that crushed the collective hearts of all the Tom-rooters in the audience, it was this exchange between Tom and Summer right at the end of the movie:

Summer: I woke up one morning and I just knew.
Tom: Knew what?
Summer: What I was never sure of with you.

I think I heard at least thirty hearts around me (including mine) shatter at that very moment in the film.

One of the most heart-piercing scenes I’ve ever witnessed.

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Tom’s sister was very fun to watch too.

I loved how he looked to his little sister for sagely advise on relationships.

And everything she said made perfect sense too.

One of my favourite lines from her: “Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.”

Nice one!

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Ultimately, maybe Tom should have just had “the talk” with Summer to get things straight right from the start.

Maybe he should have just straight out asked her where he stood with her instead of having to read the signs.

(Yes, I know he did try at one point when they were in the car and got a nebulous answer…but maybe he should have persisted and got to the bottom of things.)

Sometimes, it’s always good to hear the honest truth once and for all…cos it would save a great deal of heartache down the road.