It’s always melancholy (yet optimistic) in Philadelphia

Photo / Chuck Zlotnick/Fox Searchlight Pictures

There’s a dubious municipal compliment (or two) by A.O. Scott in his New York Times July 17 review of  “(500) Days of Summer,” the new rom-com set in Los Angeles:

“At first, I mistook the city for Chicago or Philadelphia or some other old-growth conurbation, and Mr. Webb, who has directed videos for artists as different as Miley Cyrus and My Chemical Romance, deserves credit for finding new and fresh perspectives on this overexposed metropolis. There are no beaches or Spanish-style bungalows in the hills, just a scruffy, comfortable atmosphere of melancholy optimism that suits Tom and Summer perfectly, in all their imperfection.”

Conurbation: (1915) “an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities” – Webster’s

So, Tom is the Philly or Chicago character, and Summer is L.A., or the other way around?

Review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/movies/17five.html?ex=1263960000&en=a9a8010b498894b4&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=MO-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M107-ROS-0709-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click

Posted by Thomas J. Walsh