I ain't mad at him at all... and I wouldn't be surprised if he scored an Oscar nomination...

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>(500) Days of Summer: Revenge is writing a film about the girl who dumped you

By Scott Neustadter

It is surely the greatest act of revenge in the history of cinema. When American Scott Neustadter was dumped by an English girl, it not only dented his pride, it also inspired him to write a movie about it - which has become a hit in the U.S.

Now (500) Days Of Summer is about to be released here, and for once it is the man in the romcom left licking his wounds. Here, Scott reveals why it definitely is not a love story.


The opening credits for my film include the standard legal disclaimer that 'any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental'. But then it adds: 'Especially you, Jenny Beckman. Bitch.'

That tells you a lot about how I felt when she ended a relationship I so desperately, even pathetically, wanted to make work, even though it was always patently clear to me that she saw no future for us. (There's a lot of speculation on the internet about whether that's her real name. I'm saying nothing.)

I first saw her across a room in October 2002, having enrolled at the London School of Economics for a Masters in media and communications.

I had two thoughts almost immediately. The first was that, in her, I had found exactly what I'd been looking for. The second was that this was going to end very, very badly. I was on the rebound from a relationship that had ended months before in New York, where I had been working for a film company.

I had been desolate. You know the drill. Sleepless nights, long days watching Swedish movies and listening to The Smiths on a constant loop.

But when I met this girl in London, my depression lifted, my heart filled with love again and I felt that this could only be the result of divine intervention. We began chatting and found that we shared the same taste in books and music. That had to mean something, right?

I was crazily, madly, hopelessly in love, but, of film about the girl who dumped you course, I never told her. How could I? She showed no sign that she was interested in me. But I did tell just about everyone else in my class, and one of my friends tipped her off at a party.

This led to an awkward walk to the night bus, but on the way she kissed me and after that everything changed.

We - OK, she - decided soon after that to not use labels. 'Boyfriend/girlfriend,' there would be none of that. Labels equalled possession and this girl was her own woman. And so I went with it. What did I care what we called ourselves as long as she kept calling?

I thought it was modern, cultured - anything other than what it actually was: uncertainty, confusion, detachment. It was a roller coaster. Some days were perfect - I have beautiful memories of us drinking wine, watching bands and sneaking kisses in the elevator at the LSE.

While other days - lots of days - were unforgettably awful. Eventually, she told me what I had always known deep in my heart: that this thing, whatever it was, simply wasn't going to work for either of us.

And so I went back home to the States and found myself right back into the Swedish movies and The Smiths CDs.

The whole thing had been a mistake, I told myself. Divine intervention, my eye. Bored with moping, my friend Michael H. Weber and I decided to channel those energies into something of value. A screenplay.

Reliving every moment of my bitter-sweet, one-sided romance was a cathartic experience for me - and the end result, we were shocked to find, was pretty decent.

The finished film tells it all just as it happened, however embarrassing my puppy-like devotion and however aloof it makes her look.

The setting is changed, as are the names. Tom Hansen - aka me! - is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and writes messages for greeting cards. The girl who breaks his heart is Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), a secretary in the same office.

However, the final denouement is the same. I won't spoil it by giving it away, but there was no storybook ending for Tom and Summer, just as there wasn't for Jenny Beckman and me.

It comes in a stunning moment, drawn entirely from real events, like the rest of the film, which has an unexpectedly powerful impact on Tom and Summer's lives, just as it did on Jenny's and mine.

Thanks to this script and the process of writing it down, I was able to liberate myself from my own misery. I'm two years into another relationship and have never been happier.

One curious footnote, though. After writing the screenplay, I met up with Jenny for the first and only time since we broke up. We had dinner in Venice Beach, California. We talked about life, friends, everything - but not about what had happened between us.

I gave her the script to read on the flight back to London. Some time later she wrote me a letter. She loved the story, she said. It had surprised and moved her because she really related to Tom. Yes, incredibly, Jenny hadn't recognised herself as Summer at all.
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THINK FOR YOURSELFS! DO THE CONTRARIAN!