Few things are felt as viscerally as the sting of heartbreak and few movies manage to capture that same confusion, bewilderment and raw pain as well as (500) Days of Summer. Released in 2009, Marc Webb’s feature debut has become a soothing balm for the recently dumped. With its slick storytelling, potent emotive beats and indie earworm soundtrack, it plays more like a mood movie than the coming-of-age dramedy it was originally intended to be.
Told in non-chronological chunks that shoot between moments of dizzying joy and rock-bottom sorrow, Webb follows the lifecycle of a rocket romance between hopeless romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his free-spirited co-worker Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Delivered from Tom’s perspective, it’s likely helped countless male viewers find peace with their own failed past relationships, which is an apt legacy considering how much Webb related to its core message.
“I was so close to the feelings Tom was feeling,” admits Webb, remembering his pre-(500) Days of Summer self. “I felt so deeply connected to this romantic idea of what love was supposed to be so it was easy to see myself in the piece and operate with an expertise and sensitivity to Tom and, to a degree, Summer. I remember how deep those feelings were and the wounds surrounding love. I have deep sympathy for people who have been in that position. It’s painful and nostalgic at the same time. It really described me at a certain point in my life.”
