“50/50” is about finding humor in a serious illness and discovering who is willing to stand by you when times get difficult. It’s a sincere and deeply affecting story with a smart, realistic script and multilayered performances. Written by Will Reiser based on his own experience with cancer, “50/50” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a mild-mannered radio producer living in Seattle who is such a rule-follower that he even stops for the ‘Don’t Walk ‘ sign while he’s jogging. His life is upended when he learns that he has a rare, potentially fatal, malignant tumor growing on his spine. Adam has an attractive artist girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), a constantly worrying mother (Anjelica Huston) and a boorish but true friend, Kyle (Seth Rogan who is best friends with Reiser). Offering awkward solace during Adam’s bouts of anger and depression is Katherine (Anna Kendrick), a 24-year-old psychologist-in-training. She’s so young that when Adam makes a reference to Doogie Howser, she says, ‘Who? Does he work here?’
Nuanced observations underlie the comedy and tell you that this is not a typical manipulative movie about the illness of the week. Everything seems real. There’s an emotional moment between Adam and his Alzheimer’s-stricken father. There’s a brief scene in a bathroom with a book lying on the counter that’s handled with subtlety yet it coveys so much emotionally. There are sessions of personal devastation as patients sit for hours filling their veins with chemicals and we come to care for Adam’s chemo buddies (Phillip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer). Every performance is virtually flawless, especially Gordon-Levitt. We root for Adam because of Gordon-Levitt’s everyman quality and his sincere likability. Rogen’s delivery is so pitch-perfect that you can almost hear him and Reiser bouncing ideas off each other as Reiser writes the script. And Kendrick brings a sweetly appealing quality to her nervous therapist role. Director Jonathan Levine walks a fine line between comedy and drama with its life-and-death issues, but “50/50” manages to beat the odds. 9/30/11
1 comment:
I never thought I would see a comedy about having cancer but here it is. This gutsy screenplay however, really works!! I went to this movie not expecting much and turned out enjoying this very much. Go see this, its n excellent film
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