(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (2009, Blu-ray released December 22, 2009 – MSRP $39.99 CAN)
“Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.” Ouch. Rough subject matter, huh? But director Marc Webb makes (500) Days of Summer work in a unique take on young, modern relationships that isn’t your average rom-com.
This is a tale told out of order, dancing around from the end of a relationship to the middle, skipping to the beginning and then flitting through everything else in seemingly random order. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Tom Hansen, a greeting card writer who falls for the new girl at the office, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). He suffers from very romantic notions of what can come of their relationship as she remains on the fence throughout its 500 days. Director Webb contrasts the highs and lows by juxtaposing happy, spirited moments from their early days together with the more challenging, tense days that come near the end, meanwhile peppering the affair with wonderful, quirky moments. There’s even a musical dance number!
(500) Days of Summer does occasionally come close to slipping into rom-com territory, falling back on conventions and lingering on the twee moments. But its unusual structure and pacing coupled with the strong performances by Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel ultimately rescue it, happily keeping the film within the realm of the bright, modern indie film. (500) Days of Summer is a joy and highly recommended!
The Blu-ray disc looks and sounds as good as can be expected for a smaller light drama. Fine grain is present, contrast is strong and colour seems quite accurate. You won’t be blown away by the visuals, relative to stunners like Star Trek and District 9 but you won’t be disappointed. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers a tight, crisp but front heavy presentation, as you’d expect from this type of film.
The (500) Days of Summer Blu-ray disc is packed full of bonus features. The commentary track with Webb, Gordon-Levitt and writers Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter is a great, light-hearted listen (if you’re into this kind of thing, of course!) ‘Not a Love Story: Making (500) Days of Summer ‘ is a 30-minute look at all facets of the production and well worth watching. The other highlight is the surprisingly excellent 15-minutes of extended and deleted scenes, all available with optional commentary that explains why and how they were altered in the final cut of the film. This substantial package is rounded out with a 15-minute tour around the Sundance fest with Webb, audition tapes, storyboards, a couple of music videos, “Filmmaking Specials” and the 13-minute ‘Conversations with Zooey and Joseph‘. Whew! Told you there was a ton of stuff here. And if that wasn’t enough, Webb has directed a Sid and Nancy spoof (there’s a reference in the film – watch the clip posted above!) with Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel in bad wigs and accents.
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