Rockabye Baby Movie Night: 500 Days of Summer Starring Zooey Deschanel

What is it like to live and love and fall apart in Los Angeles? Watch 500 Days of Summer. The film follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a greeting-card writer working in Los Angeles, as he traces his steps through a recently failed relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) to reflect on where, when and how things went wrong. Their relationship lasted about 500 days, hence the title. It is about beginnings and endings, a lot about right now and not forever. Having just moved to Los Angeles from a 3,500-population town when I first saw this movie in 2009, I strongly associated those notions with transplanting here. Things were beginning in one place, while they were ending in another. Coping with the reality that things change is tough and as we experience Tom trying to maneuver his way through life after summer, we try to remember we are not alone.  

As far as the “right now, not forever,” part, well, that’s where I’m still floating. Don’t get me wrong, I have learned to love LA with my whole heart, but I know I won’t stay here forever. Some things are just meant to last for a little while and coping with that can be tough, too.

So you see, my take on the movie is less about loving and losing and more about living and losing. One of the most important roles, though, in my opinion is the soundtrack. The Smiths, Hall and Oates, Regina Spektor, The Temper Trap—each song is perfectly placed to catapult you through the highest highs and sink you during the lowest lows of the movie.

And, of course, this film reignited the popularity of the 1981 Hall and Oates hit “You Make My Dreams Come True.” I’ve got to say, I still desperately hope one day my life will turn into a musical just for like 5 minutes because that scene is so fun and liberating.

So if you’re free tonight snuggle on up with us and watch 500 Days of Summer!

Summer: I love The Smiths…you have good taste in music.

Tom: You…like The Smiths?

Summer: To die by your side, such a heavenly way to die. I love ’em.

Check out our other Rockabye Baby Movie Night picks below and lullaby renditions of Summer’s favorite artists, The Smiths and Springsteen!

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