The movie starts with a narrator outlining the plot before shifting to the iconic elevator scene where Tom and Summer meet. When Summer spots Tom listening to The Smiths and shares her own love for the band, their 500 Days story officially begins.

I've watched this movie several times since its launch in 2009, and heard people's opinions about how cold Summer was and how she just turned her back on Tom. Last night, I revisited it, and here is my opinion: "I'm not feeling sorry for Tom."

I noticed how clearly Summer tells him the truth from the very first scenes, and how little he actually listens. This 500 Days of Summer review is about why a movie that says "this is not a love story" in its first minute still leaves so many people heartbroken.

What to Know About (500) Days of Summer (2009)?

(500) Days of Summer is Marc Webb's feature debut, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.

It premiered at Sundance in January 2009 and went on to earn about $60 million worldwide on a $7.5 million budget. The story is told out of order, with title cards counting the days.

Neustadter has said it grew out of his own painful heartbreak, which explains why it feels less like a rom-com and more like a memory you can't stop replaying.

Storyline of the movie

Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a trained architect stuck writing greeting cards in Los Angeles. When Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) joins as his boss's new assistant, he decides within days that she's the one.

They bond over music, and Summer says plainly that she doesn't want anything serious. Tom hears that, nods, and carries on believing otherwise.

A medium, wide shot captures a young man and a young woman sitting side-by-side outdoors on a lush green lawn, looking toward the right. On the left, the man is shown in profile, facing right with a warm smile. He has short, messy dark hair and is wearing a dark grey, buttoned-up cardigan over a light olive-green collared shirt and a patterned dark tie. On the right, the woman sits with her body turned toward the right, looking forward with a cheerful, wide-open smile. She has long, dark brown hair with straight bangs, pulled back at the sides, and wears a blue sleeveless sweater vest over a white collared blouse with short sleeves. The background features a softly blurred park setting with empty wooden benches, a black trash bin, and a wire mesh fence lining a distant walkway under natural daylight.
Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer. Fox Searchlight Pictures

The relationship begins anyway: a kiss in the copy room, IKEA dates, a famous park bench. The film keeps jumping around the timeline, showing the glow of day 34 beside the chill of day 290.

By the time the camera reaches the breakup, you already know where the cracks were.

A medium shot captures a man and a woman sitting next to each other on a dark metal park bench, surrounded by a softly blurred green park landscape. The woman on the left, with long, wavy dark brown hair and full bangs, is looking slightly away to the left with a bright, genuine smile. She is wearing a light grey or beige trench-style jacket open over a teal blue top, a dark skirt, and a layered, vintage-style statement necklace with greenish beads. The man on the right sits slightly angled toward her, looking directly ahead with a relaxed, happy grin. He has short, dark, slightly spiked hair and is dressed in a dark brown suit jacket, a crisp white button-down shirt with an open collar, and a loosely tied brown, grey, and white striped tie. The background features lush green grass, trees, and hints of pale purple jacaranda blossoms out of focus, creating a bright, natural, and romantic atmosphere. A thick tree trunk frames the right edge of the shot.
Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in a rom-com. Fox Searchlight Pictures

A Few Quick Facts About the Movie

  • Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom), Zooey Deschanel (Summer), Geoffrey Arend (McKenzie), Chloë Grace Moretz (Rachel), Matthew Gray Gubler (Paul), Clark Gregg (Vance), Minka Kelly (Autumn), Rachel Boston (Alison), Patricia Belcher (Millie)

  • Director: Marc Webb

  • Written by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

  • Music: Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen (score)

  • Runtime: 1h 35m

  • Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

  • Rated: PG-13 for sexual material and language

  • Rotten Tomatoes: 86% from critics

  • IMDb rating: 7.6/10.

  • Metacritic: 76/100

What is 500 Days of Summer About?

This movie seems like a breakup movie told backwards and sideways, but it's about the gap between the person you love and the person you imagine.

Tom isn't in love with Summer Finn. He's in love with the idea of a girl who likes the same bands as him, and he reads every smile as proof of destiny. Summer, meanwhile, is simply being honest.

That's the part people argue about for years. The film is told from Tom's point of view, so Summer looks cold. Rewatch it, and she's the most consistent character in the story.

(500) Days of Summer Explained: The Idea at the Center of the Film

The film's real argument is that shared taste isn't fate. Tom's little sister Rachel is the only one who says it out loud, and she says it better than any critic. She said, "Liking the same obscure things doesn't make someone your soulmate."

Tom misreads The Graduate as a happy ending, while Summer leaves the screening in tears. Webb's split-screen "expectations vs. reality" sequence shows the exact moment Tom's fantasy meets the truth. Even the colour blue, which Summer wears almost everywhere, works as Tom's projection of her.

A medium shot captures actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt standing close together during an outdoor rooftop gathering at dusk, set against a hazy, soft-focus urban skyline. Zooey Deschanel stands on the left, looking up smilingly into his eyes with her hair styled in an elegant, voluminous high bun with thick bangs. She is wearing a sleeveless halter dress featuring a white background adorned with a blue botanical and floral pattern. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stands on the right, facing her with a gentle, reciprocating smile. He is dressed in a dark gray tailored suit jacket over a light gray, subtly patterned button-up shirt and a slim black tie. In the foreground, the edge of a concrete rooftop ledge is visible, decorated with a string of glowing, warm-toned bulb lights. The background features the blurred silhouettes of city skyscrapers under a pale, overcast sky.
Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer. Fox Searchlight Pictures

The film isn't asking whether Summer was right for Tom, but it's asking whether Tom was ever looking at her.

"If a Double Decker Bus" - The Song Behind the Elevator Scene

This is the famous chorus line of The Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (1986), and it's the song that starts everything.

In the elevator, Tom's headphones leak The Smiths. Summer recognizes the band, says she loves them, and Tom's world quietly rearranges itself. To him, it isn't a coincidence, but it's a sign.

The song itself is about wanting to be so close to someone that even a freak accident would feel like a gift. It's wildly romantic, a little morbid, and entirely one-sided in how it's sung. That's exactly how Tom hears it.

However, Summer hears something else, like a great song by a band she likes. Same chorus, two completely different meanings, and the whole film lives in that gap.

The rest of the soundtrack works the same way. Regina Spektor's "Us" opens the film, Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams" scores Tom's morning-after dance, and her "Hero" underlines the rooftop party disaster. But the Smiths scene tells you how the film wants you to read Tom.

Ending: What Happens at the Close

Spoilers ahead.

At Summer's rooftop party, around day 408, Tom arrives hoping for a reunion and spots an engagement ring. He leaves crushed, quits his job, and spirals for a while.

Later, Rachel gives him the clearest advice in the film: he's been remembering only the good moments. That's when he starts to see what he'd ignored, and he returns to architecture.

At the park bench, he and Summer meet once more. She's married now, and she tells him she was sure about her husband in a way she never was about Tom.

On what the narrator calls day 500, Tom goes to a job interview and meets a woman named Autumn. The film ends on a small, hopeful note: not a new love, but a new beginning.

I'll rate this movie 4.5 out of 5

This is one of the sharpest films about modern romance, and the soundtrack alone deserves a place on your playlist.

I'm holding back a little because Summer is written mostly from the outside, so she stays more of a mystery than a person.

It's funny, painful, and honest. If you've ever loved someone more than they loved you, it will probably find you.

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