Who is the real Jenny Beckman?

Where would writers be without the people who've done them wrong? Without dysfunctional lovers, bad bosses and explosive partings of the ways, we wouldn’t have “You’re So Vain,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” "I Married a Communist," Dr. Evil or "The Starter Wife," to name but a few of a million examples. Nothing quite takes the sting out of heartache and humiliation like turning your tormentor into a thinly veiled antagonist. So it wasn't surprising when Scott Neustadter, co-writer of the twee anti-romance hit "(500) Days of Summer," fessed up this weekend in the U.K.'s Daily Mail that the movie's titular heartbreaker was based on a real woman. The movie does, after all, start with the warning that "any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you, Jenny Beckman. Bitch.” Not exactly the sort of thing people say when there are no hard feelings. (Neustadter coyly won't confirm if that's his ex's real name.)

In his Op-Ed, the screenwriter explains that he met the real Summer/Jenny/Miss X as a student at the London School of Economics in 2002. He was rebounding from a bad breakup back home, and promptly fell "crazily, madly, hopelessly in love" with a girl who returned his kisses but not his ardor. It ended, painfully and "unforgettably awful," eventually prompting him to team up with co-writer Michael H. Weber (though not before Neustadter took out his pain on the world by unloading "Pink Panther 2" on us). "The finished film tells it all just as it happened," he says, "however embarrassing my puppy-like devotion and however aloof it makes her look." Today, he's got a hit movie, is two years into a new relationship, and has "never been happier." Take THAT, Jenny!

It must be nice to have all that going for you and to have the Daily Mail hyperbolically refer to your movie as "surely the greatest act of revenge in the history of cinema." But Neustadter admits that when the real Summer read his script, she told him she related to the Tom character, making her either acutely unself-aware or supremely adept at pushing his buttons. And if it's the latter, Neustadter may wish to further consider this. Six years ago Lauren Weisberger turned her stint as an assistant at Vogue into a bestselling roman à clef that became a hit movie, an act of payback right up there with Nora Ephron's scathing divorce saga “Heartburn.”

This weekend, however, Weisberger's Devil herself, Anna Wintour, emerged as the sharp, tough-as-nails, and eminently fascinating hero of a critically acclaimed movie of her own, "The September Issue." It might not be revenge, but it's got to feel a little like vindication. So while Neustadter may be enjoying the box office fruit of his disastrous love affair, somewhere, Jenny Beckman may be quietly banging away on a screenplay called “Some Like It Scott.”

Jenny Beckman is a real woman — and the inspiration for the character Summer. Beckman had dated Scott Neustadter, the movie’s screenwriter. When she dumped him, he wrote a movie about the experience. Beckman said she identified more with Tom than with Summer.

Is 500 days of Summer a happy ending?

This is how Summer sees the ending of the film: full of uncertainty, they are not happy. However, Tom interprets the same ending in a completely different way: they are together, hence, it’s a happily ever after.

Is 500 days of summer SAD?

The narrator tells the viewer in the first 5 minutes of the movie that though the story is about a boy and girl, it isn’t a love story. I think it would be really easy to say that (500) Days of Summer is a sad movie. Parts of this movie are sad. But more than sad, I see it as one of the most honest movies ever made.

Is 500 Days of Summer real?

Writing. The film is presented as a non-linear narrative. Each scene is introduced using a title card showing which of the 500 days it is. Co-writer of the film Scott Neustadter admitted the film was based on a real romance.

Does 500 days of Summer have a happy ending?

Who are the composers of 500 Days of summer?

The original score of “ (500) Days of Summer” includes 17 songs by the film composers “Mychael Danna” and “Rob Simonsen”. What’s the movie about? The romance “ (500) Days of Summer” is about Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who works in a greeting card company. The charming Summer (Zooey Deschanel) also works in his office.

Where are Tom and summer dancing in 500 Days of summer?

(0:28) Summer and Tom are in IKEA. (0:31) Tom dancing in the street after spending the night with Summer. Tom walking down the street happily with cartoon birds and a marching band. (0:33) Tom shows up to work looking disheveled after his breakup with Summer.

Where does summer fall asleep in 500 Days of summer?

(1:04) Summer catches the bouquet at Millie’s wedding reception. (1:06) Summer falls asleep on Tom’s shoulder during the train ride home from Millie’s wedding. (1:07) Cut screen between reality and expectation during Summer’s rooftop party.

What is the soundtrack to days of summer?

(0:09) The first time Tom and Summer are on the elevator together and Summer hears his music playing from the headphones. (0:10) Millie’s engagement party at work.