(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer is a quintessentially quirky romance film that is straight up and doesn't try to follow in the footsteps of its romcom predecessors. As the title says, "This is not a love story... This is a story about love". Its nice to see a "Hollywood" film throwing of the shackles of its audiences pre-conceived ideas of a romantic film and producing a film that feels more British than American. Yes it still has that polished look and feel to it but its the plot and story line that you really should be giving your attention to.

Directed by Marc Webb, who? Well i don't know much about him to be honest, but for a first feature film its an incredible achievement. While its a non-linear plot that ebbs and flows between the "500" days of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer's (Zooey Deschanel) relationship, Webb manages to stay in complete control of the film and delivers us with a fine example of what can be achieved when you stray away from the hollywood template. Its a surprise really that Webb hasn't gone on to do anything else, though he does have a Spiderman film in production and a remake of the 2007 Danish thriller "Just Another Love Story".

The film follows our two protagonists, Tom and Summer, throughout their relationship. While the plot is non-linear and jumps from day to day it hasn't gone so far from hollywood as to be considered Independent as you get the sense (mainly due to do the first few scenes) that Tom is looking back on his relationship. It plays out that Tom is looking for something long term and to settle down with Summer, but Summer is just looking for a "summer fling". The irony at the end of course is that Summer ends up married to some guy she met in a cafe. However she says this is down to Tom and his belief in true love wearing off on Summer. The ending of the film sets a sequel up pretty perfectly but odds are that we wont be seeing anymore of Webb and Levitt in a quirky film about love.

Reviews Starting Again Soon

I will be starting writing reviews again with the next week or so. Green Zone, Wild Target, Shutter Island and a few more will all be featuring.

Appaloosa Review

Boasting a strong cast which includes the likes of Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger this film should leave you feeling as though this was a modern western classic but it never reaches the height of another recent western by the name of 3:10 To Yuma which had a fabulous cast, great performances and a very strong plot.  In many ways that is where Appaloosa trips over itself, its plot really isn't that intricate and doesn't get pulse racing as Yuma or any other classic western throughout cinematic history, despite great conviction from the cast.  

Directed by the critically acclaimed Ed Harris (Actor: A Beautiful Mind, The Truman Show & Gone Baby Gone).  He pulls out a fairly decent film in which he also stars along side Viggo and Renee, but maybe its his lack of directing expertise that means this film never really shifts into top gear and delivers the final knockout.  The bright side for him is that many directors would rather like to have this film in their armoury and its bodes well for the future if he wants to dip his toe in the pond of direction a little more in the future.  

The story, following a freelance sheriff (Harris) and his deputy (Viggo) who are hired by unruly towns to bring some law and order meet  a single woman (Renee) out of place in the town of Appaloosa.  A fruitful relationship between Harris and Renee ensues until a criminal is caught.  Thus sparking a chain of events that include the capturing of Renee, the ransom of Harris & Viggo to release the criminal.  They then set out to recapture the criminal ad end up in a shootout in a mexican town, both get injured and the criminal escapes to go back to Appaloosa and take over the running of the town.  Once they get back to Appaloosa Harris and Renee settle down but unrest follows.  Until the culmination of Viggo taking out the criminal in a shoot out.  Off he rides into the distance and a very open ending, a sequel maybe a possibility.

Overall this film does well with what it has, it thrills at times, but its big downfall is the lack of all guns blazing duel.  The only head to head one we see is at the the end but while it gives us some nice closure it doesn't really fulfill my need or whet my appetite.