(500) DAYS OF SUMMER

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Fox Searchlight)
Directed by Marc Webb

It’s been awhile; in fact it’s been nearly four years since a sleeper from the summer months emerged as one of the years best. And who knows, with the tweaking of the Best Picture category by the Academy, a film like (500) DAYS OF SUMMER could potentially have a shot at something special come time when the awards are handed out. That may be jumping the gun a bit, considering it’s barely September, but it’s not like we haven’t seen this before; a film which gets released during the summer instead of the fall, killing any chance of it being recognized. The reality is, great films get released all throughout the year, it’s just we forget about them, but is that fair? I don’t think so and frankly, it makes no sense considering just how few of these so-called sleepers make some noise at any point during the year. Taking all that into account, we’re talking maybe, what, one to three films released earlier in the year that disserve to be mentioned among the rest of the nominees, released later during the push? I guess my only point is to hope with the now 10 strong nominees for Best Picture, we start to see more films from earlier in the year reach to award season. That being said, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER couldn’t have come at a better time, as even with its late release to this smaller market, the ratio of good to bad currently in theaters was looking quite grim. So to see such a refreshing story is not only welcoming, but encouraging as I can’t help but think this is another great example of how far writers have come in Hollywood.

This coming age story revolves around Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young, former student of architecture, turned greeting card writer who among other things, is just living out his mundane life. Nothing exciting ever happened for Tom, until his boss’ new administrative assistant, Summer (Zooey Deschanel) walked into a meeting one day. It was then Tom’s entire life turned upside down, both figuratively and literary. Hailed from the deep Midwest, Summer came to LA with virtually no baggage, just wanting to get a fresh start in the City of Angles. She was beautiful, witty and among other things intriguing as the more Tom got to know her the more he liked, eventually feeling a tad bit love-struck toward the new transplant. So much so, he had no clue how to approach those feelings, until they each had one too many at a local karaoke bar after work one night. It was then; they connected and never looked back, even though they probably should have considering all the events that would happen over those next 300 days. You see Tom is somewhat of a hopeless romantic, only not in the traditional way. He clings to the notion of true love and given how the first 100 days of his relationship with Summer was, who could blame him, as they seemed almost too good together at times. Too bad Summer was the exact opposite, wanting anything but love and a labeled relationship; secretly hoping Tom was that one guy that felt the same way. So, as time grew, so did Tom and Summer, only not in the same way, leading to a roller coaster ride full of love and just how mysterious it can be at times.

A friend of mine told me a year ago that Zooey Deschanel needs more to do; basically stating she hasn’t been given that one role she can shine in. Well, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER might finally be that role, as outside her character being a part of the title; it can’t get much bigger than this for the young actress, born into showbiz some 20 years ago. Her father already has an Oscar, for his cinematography work in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, while her mother was one of the stars from the cult, short-lived TV series TWIN PEAKS, back in the early 90s. Deschanel (ELF, YES MAN), for all intent purposes, just wanted something to do and before now, kind of meandered in and out of a lot of lesser roles in film and TV. But, wherever she landed, no matter the length of time on screen, she made her presence which is why I was glad to see finally see her in a role like this. Sure, it may not be a part of a blockbuster series like TRANSFORMERS, but typically the good actresses aren’t found that way. Instead, they are found in lower budget films like this, ‘indies’ that are under the radar a bit and only get bigger by word of mouth. And Deschanel certainly made the most of this role, as her version of Summer was uncanny and frankly mesmerizing at times, given how easy it seemed to be for her. And the good thing for Deschanel was, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was on the other end, feeding off her every move, making quite the duo on screen. In fact, before this film, I never gave Gordon-Levitt (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA) much thought, one because his name is too long and two, because he never stood out in any of the roles I had seen him in. I know, shallow reasons, but hey, it’s true and frankly, I had no idea what to expect from this kid. But, he did well and managed to keep balance throughout all the ups and downs of his character Tom. Filling in nicely, where needed, was the likes of Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler, Chloe Moretz and Clark Gregg, four people that you may recognize, but won’t care about when it’s all said and done.

Going in, I had no idea what I was going to get with this film, but I’ll tell you, I was impressed early on and that feeling only grew the longer I watched. This film will certainly not be seen by a whole lot of people, but with any luck, it will be talked about, not just by me, but by people who can appreciate a well-written and directed story like this. And that’s the biggest praise I can give a film like (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, as it had its moments more times than not. It truly did and I credit not only the screen writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, but I credit director Marc Webb for making sure everything on paper played out perfectly on screen, which it did, plus some. And to think, all Webb did before this was direct music videos. All the little things worked like magic with this film. Things like the split screen of critical decisions, the counting down or up of days seemed to move within the story like it was meant to and even the sudden break into a joyous dance sequence worked. When all that happens, you just might have something special and to me, this film was exactly that. Sure, it could be broken down and chewed up for its rare inadequacies, but I just don’t see much there, which is why I say this film is a hidden gem in 2009. This film told its story in a new way, in a way that allowed the audience to connect even more, and to me, no matter the genre it gets placed into, this film should be praised for that.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER will exit the theater just how it came in, quietly. And that’s alright, because the true story of a film like this isn’t told now; it’s told in the days after its release when people talk about it, and even for a story like this, I feel this is that type of film. It may not be perfect, but for what it is, I certainly enjoyed it and I challenge anyone to see it, as it will find a way to touch you in some way or another.

A-

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA (Paramount Pictures)
Directed by Stephen Sommers

Just when you thought you had seen it all when it comes to action and overblown special effects, Hasbro and Paramount Pictures decided to unleash their next “toy” onto the big screen, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA, only weeks after TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN had run its course atop the box office. Talk about riding the coattails, but if it works for you, why not do it? Fact is this time of year has proven to be the perfect time to release such overhyped flicks like this one, so to throw another one on the pile won’t faze too many people. There’s no price on action like this, but maybe there should be, as I just can’t seem to wrap my arms around what the estimated budget of $170 million was used for with this film. I don’t claim to be an expert in budgets when it comes to major motion pictures, but common sense would tell you a high price tag like that should produce a pretty decent result on the big screen. Maybe not one that is the quality of say, a Peter Jackson picture, but still one that is visually stunning, no matter how realistic it may or may not be. That’s the cornerstone of what action flicks have become in Hollywood the past several years. So going in, I guess I expected at least that, but somewhere between the pages of the script and the Paramount sets, something went way wrong, resulting in a film that should have and could have been a whole lot better, given its premise.

For those that don’t know, this film is almost entirely based from various characters from the G.I. JOE franchise. The film was centered around a top-secret unit, containing a host of highly trained military Special Forces from all corners of the world. Led by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid), this unit was given the best of the best when it came to equipment and/or weapons, not to mention some truly state-of-the-art vehicles to ride and fly around in. Armed and ready for just about anything, the group practiced their will on the worlds’ nastiest terrorists, often stopping at nothing to defend the code they all pledged to after joining the unit. So naturally, they were a bit cocky when it came to their craft, so when word leaked of a new underground terrorist group, they didn’t fret, only prepared like they always had. Well, little did they know, this new group, had better ‘intel ‘ and even more advanced weaponry, especially after an all too easy infiltration of the compound to grab four weapons of mass destruction, where the JOE’s were not only unprepared, but stunned to see the toys being used against them. After watching their coveted WMD almost walk out the door by themselves, the JOE’s made a pact to not only get them back before they were put into motion, but to seek revenge on the group responsible, leading to a predictable and unfulfilling conclusion that might have you running, not walking toward the exit.

Typically, a cast from a film like G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA, doesn’t matter too much, because in the end, it is really all about the action and special effects. But, for some reason, unbeknown to yours truly, this one prevailed and did so with no help from the non-stop action surrounding them. Leading the pack both in character and out was Dennis Quaid, who was probably the last person I would have expected in this film, but provided good stability as General Hawk. Right behind him in his first true leading role was Channing Tatum, who played Duke. And although his role could probably be played by any young athletic male walking around LA, Tatum made it his own with the screen time given to him. After Tatum, there were a host of stars like Christopher Eccleston (Destro), Sienna Miller (Ana Lewis / The Baroness) and Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), all contributing in a host of ways, but none more so than Marlon Wayans, playing Ripcord. In typical Wayans’ fashion, almost every moment of humor was at the expense of Marlon’s Ripcord, which added a nice break from the otherwise laughable action taking place. But, possibly the true stars to this film, not given top billing, were Snake Eyes, played by Ray Park, and Storm Shadow, played by Lee Byung-hun. The two could have had their own separate story and in some ways did, but where Snake Eyes shined, Storm Shadow fell a little short, which was a shame considering the build-up and iconic nature of these two figures among G.I. JOE lore.

I think it almost goes without saying that a film like this demands a lot of attention to set design and placement of the cast, among all the action and CGI-driven special effects. And there’s no doubt, director Stephen Sommers had a plan, it just wasn’t the right one. I’m not sure when, but somewhere along the journey, Sommers lost his way, probably in the same manner of when he was director for THE MUMMY RETURNS and VAN HELSING. Nothing felt right from the start and the longer you watched, the more convoluted the shot sequences got, and that’s sad given the broad range of freedom at which Sommers had to have been given when he pitched the idea to Paramount. The action was almost too fast, but not in a good way (if compared to the outstanding special effects of TRANSFORMERS). Here, it seemed as if an amateur was behind the camera, getting that long-awaited shot at an action flick, which on the surface looked to be a whole lot better than what it ultimately became. Because, underneath, it was anything but smooth, with one misplaced action sequence after another, leaving you somewhere between laughter and tears. And what’s sad is the script wasn’t half-bad, which is surprising given the genre, but I guess the less substance to it, the more chances it can succeed, given the right words put into motion. Sure, there were a few times where the dialogue was a little ‘cheesy’, but that was expected and in no way took away from the story, which was trying to stay afloat despite all the efforts of the action and special effects attempting to drag it under.

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA might be one of the first films in a long time that is exactly what you think it might be, only this time a little worse. Fact is, this film had a chance to be better, but instead was anything but, wasting a great opportunity to create something memorable for all those fans like me who use to play with the action figures or watch the cartoon. So take a chance if you want, but know that the value of this film does not lie where it should, although ultimately entertaining you but in all the wrong ways.

C-