Given all my puffed-up talk about chick flicks, I think it’s time to (whispering) come clean about something.
I’m a sucker for a good indie romcom.
And if said indie stars Zooey Deschanel or Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Well, the Big Giant Head himself couldn’t hold me back.
Thus, it looks like July 31 will be my lucky day, since it’s the (tentative) day that Marc Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer” opens in Charlotte, N.C. (Surprise! There are perks in living 29 miles from America’s 18th-largest city.) I’ve had my eyes on “Summer” ever since I heard Levitt and Deschanel were teaming up to play the starcrossed couple in question. I’d have to check with my pal Dear Diary, but I’m pretty sure this will be the best cinematic pairing since Paul and Jason. Levitt has morphed into an actor of formidable talent, making good on the promise he showed in “3rd Rock from the Sun.” (What? He was a teenage and he held his own against John Lithgow. You don’t think that’s impressive?) He consistently chooses difficult, non-mainstream projects — “Brick,” “Manic,” “Mysterious Skin,” “The Lookout” — that show his range. He’ll make for a quirky, rough-about-the-edges leading man. Deschanel has a history of being the best thing in bad (re: “Failure to Launch,” “The New Guy”), strange (“The Good Girl,” “Winter Passing”) or fiercely independent (“All the Real Girls”) movies. If she sings even half of one song, it will make the price of admission worthwhile.
Still need convincing? Take a gander at ZooJo’s re-enactment of “Sid and Nancy.” If it doesn’t convert you, there’s just no talking to you.
Filed under: Random Thoughts | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marc Webb, Sid and Nancy, Sundance, Zooey Deschanel |
M. Carter @ the Movies 
I saw this at a special showing back in February and liked it a whole lot. Very creatively done, with good performances all around. And yes, Zooey does do a little Karaoke. I have to wait until August 7 for it to come out here, but I plan on seeing it again. Heck, I’ll see pretty much anything with Zooey in it…so it’s an added bonus when it’s something really good.
I’m a “Volume One”-clutching fan of nearly anything Zooey Deschanel does (be it singing, acting or some combination of the two), so I’m happy to hear she was expectedly good in “(500) Days.” She has that indefinable quality, a brightness, that makes her seem rightly cast in any role. (Although she does sarcasm — a la “Failure to Launch,” “The Good Girl” — very well too.) Pairing her up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt is damn-near genius.
M. Carter at the Movies