Zooey Deschanel
Cool Article on Zooey Deschanel
09/26/09 23:54 Filed in: Cool Stuff
Actually, it's more about 500 Days of Summer. There's
a really interesting quote in Filmstar’s story about
that movie. As good as it was, there was an element
of preciousness about 500 Days. It's almost too
stylish and cool for its own good. It undermines the
gritty realism of the "love hurts" story they're
trying to tell. But after reading this article I
found out that, at least with respect to Zooey's
character, that slickness was somewhat intentional.
Summer is also figurative of a certain type of indie movie character. As Webb explains, "There's this term - Manic Pixie Dream Girl - which is this idealised super-attractive quirky girl. Typically this character is sort of consumed by the male, changes his life and it's happily ever after. But we wanted to use that idea and extract some sort of consequence from it - she doesn't solve your problems, she doesn't make you happy. One of the underlying themes of the movie is that happiness lies within, not in the big blue eyes of the girl in the cubicle down the hall. That was a little bit tricky, but Zooey...she has great sense of style, she has this credibility, which is really fantastic, and it's hard not to like her, to be attracted to her. She lives in that idealised box that we have - but there's a consequence to that, there's a consequence to these people not being real, and that's what the end of the movie is trying to embrace."
I got a sense from the article that there was bit of a struggle between Zooey’s interpretation of the story and Summer’s character and the one the screenwriter had. She says “I just tried to play the scenes as truthfully as possible and keep her grounded in my reality of her, which was different from the reality of the film. My job was to protect her integrity, as a character. I’m like the lawyer for Summer.”
Summer is also figurative of a certain type of indie movie character. As Webb explains, "There's this term - Manic Pixie Dream Girl - which is this idealised super-attractive quirky girl. Typically this character is sort of consumed by the male, changes his life and it's happily ever after. But we wanted to use that idea and extract some sort of consequence from it - she doesn't solve your problems, she doesn't make you happy. One of the underlying themes of the movie is that happiness lies within, not in the big blue eyes of the girl in the cubicle down the hall. That was a little bit tricky, but Zooey...she has great sense of style, she has this credibility, which is really fantastic, and it's hard not to like her, to be attracted to her. She lives in that idealised box that we have - but there's a consequence to that, there's a consequence to these people not being real, and that's what the end of the movie is trying to embrace."
I got a sense from the article that there was bit of a struggle between Zooey’s interpretation of the story and Summer’s character and the one the screenwriter had. She says “I just tried to play the scenes as truthfully as possible and keep her grounded in my reality of her, which was different from the reality of the film. My job was to protect her integrity, as a character. I’m like the lawyer for Summer.”
500 Days of Summer
07/19/09 02:04 Filed in: Cool Stuff
This is a bittersweet little movie. It got a 90% at Rotten
Tomatoes, which is pretty good. I don’t know
that I’d quite put it at that level, but it’s
definitely enjoyable and not your typical
romantic comedy. Zooey Deschanel is always
interesting and her line delivery is superb.
She's perfected the cute quirky chick role.
Check it out. You won’t waste your money.