This is not a Love Story. This is a Story about Love

SYNOPSIS:
This is a story about Tom and Summer.  Tom believes in love and soul mates and Summer, having been jaded by her parent's divorce, doesn't believe in love.  Summer starts working at Tom's company (greeting cards writer) and he instantly believes he has found the person he should be with forever. 

The story is told out of order.  You know where you are in the storyline by Day #.  From the beginning you see what appears to be good times, and possible marriage, to bad times and breakups.  It's told in a way that leaves you uneasy because you see the outcome before the events take place.  The premise is in the title, 500 Days.  As a romantic I hoped it meant something else happened after 500 days, but as a realist and knowing this is a "Story about love" I knew there was an end and Tom wouldn't stay with Summer forever. 

Tom loves Summer, Summer doesn't love Tom, Summer breaks up with Tom, Tom becomes apathetic until he thinks he can win her back, only to become completely cynical of love when Summer gets engaged soon after breaking up with Tom.  By the end of the 500 days, they have reversed positions and part ways.

This is where my questions come in that have been plaguing my mind.  Who do I like better in this movie and why?  Originally, I felt way more compelled to be on Tom's side because Summer is a cold-hearted user who left Tom worse off than he started.  But is she really?  Or was it Tom who imposed his own beliefs onto a doomed relationship that he was warned would never be what he wanted?  Did he create it all in his head because he wished she was the one and she knew she wasn't?

I have been discussing this with Mr. Oshimbo and he felt Summer was more honest than most by admitting straight up that the relationship was casual and to not expect too much.  Tom agreed; therefore, it's his fault that he got hurt.  However, I told Mr. Oshimbo that her actions were far from "casual" and Tom cannot be blamed for "feeling" more than Summer did.  Nor can he be blamed for wanting clarification on their relationship. 

The saddest part of the movie for me was when they meet in the park at the end and Summer has married someone else.  I feel like this was the cruelest scene in the movie because she tells Tom, "I just woke up and knew."  Tom implores what she "knew" and she says, "I knew what I was so unsure of with you."  It's an honest answer, but so hard to hear and it was written all over Tom's face. 

Again I asked myself if Summer was mean to hang out in "Tom's place" hoping to catch him there one day.  Then she gets closure for her part of the relationship.  Maybe it's just me running away from the truth sometimes, but in the end, it was good for Tom to gain that closure as well.  He needed to know that while he may have idealized their relationship as something more, they were not destined to be together.  He needed to know that his soul mate still existed in the world and he was bound to find her.

This takes you to the scene following the park and Tom meets Autumn.  It was a perfect ending because no one knows if Autumn is the one, but at least Tom knows that he can't stop trying.  I was left feeling good for both characters, even though I still liked Tom more.

Another reason I LOVED this movie so much was the music.  I really connected with the soundtrack and I felt as if the music was another character in the movie.  Yes, the Smiths, Joy Division, and the Pixies were used within the plot (either by reference, inclusion, or Karaoke), but there was more.  There were Regina Spektor's two songs, Us & Hero.  Us with its promise of hope and love and Hero with its sadness when Tom runs from Summer's apartment after putting the pieces together.  Hero left an indelible mark with the lyrics, "I'm the hero of this story, I don't need to be saved."  There was Hall & Oats' You Make My Dreams (come true) with Tom dancing in a park on cloud nine [even though when I hear this song I think of The Wedding Singer when they're feeding each other cake].  There's the forlorn Smith's song "Please please please let me get what I want this time" which is in itself a great pity party song [also used in Never Been Kissed when the "cool girls" try to throw dog food on the "nerd girl"].  Or the macabre, "There is a light that never goes out," which I think is such a great love song (tells you how my brain works haha). 

I bought the soundtrack when I got home from the movies and have enjoyed it, plus found a new favorite song of the moment, "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap.  I can't wait until October when their album comes out in the US (already released in Australia and Europe).