50/50 (***)
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas
Howard, Anjelica Huston, Phillip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer, Serge Houde
Seen: November 17th 2011
*** Out of ****
50/50 is an autobiography of sorts, loosely based on writer Will Reiser’s
life. The names are changed though, as Seth Rogen, who plays himself, to a
degree, is now Kyle; and Will Reiser’s likeness, played by the very talented
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, now goes by the name of Adam Lerner – it seems that Will
Reiser learned something from his ordeal, and maybe we should listen…
Adam and Kyle are best friends, Adam the quieter calmer one, and Kyle
the more bombastic and crass one. They live together and as a result hang out a
lot, with Kyle obsessed with any girl he can try and sleep with, and Adam in a
devoted relationship with Rachael (Howard). Adam experiences back pain, and
goes for a consultation. The results shatter Adam’s world, as he is diagnosed
with a rare and advanced type of cancer in the shape of a large tumour on his
lower spine. The survival rate for this cancer is 50%, from where the movie’s
title, and Kyle jokingly tells Adam that if he were a casino game he’d have the
best odds. The stages of grief starts setting in just as Adam starts seeing a
young psychologist at the hospital, Katie McCay (Kendrick), with whom he works
up a good rapport during the rest of the movie.
Adam is in denial about most of what he feels, but when he is
introduced to two fellow sufferers in Alan (Hall) and Mitch (Frewer), he slowly
starts to come to terms with his condition, even though he’s mostly relatively
passive. He is annoyed by his mother Diane (Huston), who wants to move in with
him to make sure he’s OK even though she’s already caring for his father
Richard (Houde), who has Alzheimer’s Disease. Adam tries to be upbeat about his
condition, and Kyle stands by him in his own odd way through it all as the
movie comes down to whether Adam survives the surgery or not.
As the movie starts it does, for short moments, feel a little slow
moving and, thanks to Rogen’s Kyle, a little too crass, but as the story hits
its stride about 30 minutes in it starts to take grip of you by your humanity
and its crescendo is eventually surprisingly touching without being overly
sentimental or manipulative. A moment between Adam and his father just before
his surgery stands out with particular beauty, and all relationships in the
movie are handled with the necessary mix of rough and tender as characters move
in each others’ lives, mostly with Adam as the focal point.
50/50 is a pretty good movie, well worth the ticket price. It is sad
that more movies aren’t made with this much heart and honesty, with this raw a
sense of emotion, in his friendships, his family, his relationship(s), and
within himself. Go and enjoy the sheer emotion and friendship and family if you
can make it.
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