GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “(500) Days of Summer”

Welcome to Week 19 of the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series.This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The script was nominated for the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay.

You may download the script from the Fox Searchlight website here [draft dated April 16, 2008].

Here is a trailer for the movie:

Some reviews of the film:

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

New York Times (A.O. Scott)

Wall Street Journal (Joe Morgenstern)

The BoxOfficeMojo site for the film’s performance in theaters [grossed $67M worldwide].

A 30+ minute interview with the screenwriters from MakingOf [HT to Gary Wilkie for sourcing the video]:

Let’s use this post today for your general reactions to the script.

Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not?

What are the script’s strengths? Are there areas you felt were strengthened in the movie version?

What struck you most about the writing?

And the biggie: Would this movie have worked as well or at all if the story had been structured in a traditional linear fashion?

Our analysis schedule for this week:

Monday, May 28: General discussion
Tuesday, May 29: Structure
Wednesday, May 30: Characters
Thursday, May 31: Themes
Friday, June 1: Dialogue

NOTE: We will do a Tweet-Cast Wednesday, May 30 at 11PM Eastern / 8PM Pacific. DVD, Netflix, whatever. Push play at the top of the hour then join F. Scott Frazier, John Gary, and myself to comment live as the movie plays. You can join in with your observations and comments. Hashtag: #500daze.

See you in comments!

NOTE: This series is for educational purposes only!

For previous analyses of scripts in this series, go here.

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