50/50 (2011)
Certified: 16
Duration: 100 minutes
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Serge Houde, Andrew Airlie, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall
KRS release
Sickness movies are usually strenuous and never ending exercises in eliciting the audience’s tears.
Well, 50/50 sure surprised the socks out of me. I was already prepared for 100 minutes of seeing Joseph Gordon Levitt battling cancer but I was not prepared to such a lovable-to-watch film. It succeeds where the recent Adam Sandler movie Funny People failed.
When 27-year-old Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who works at a radio network, is given the news that he is suffering from a devastating cancer, his whole life is turned upside down. His fussy mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) wants to live with him but Adam refuses. His father Richard (Serge Houde) has Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) wants to care for him but, lacking the experience and the necessary skills, she ends up betraying him.
Then there is his best friend, the very rough Kyle (Seth Rogen). He hopes that Adam’s condition could serve to turn Adam and himself into an object of sympathy for the ladies and thus have more chance at random sex.
Adam starts going for chemotherapy sessions and it is here that he strikes up some meaningful relationships: with a young therapist, Katie (Anna Hendrick) to whom he has been assigned as a case, Alan (Philip Baker Hall), a much older man, and a married young man Mitch (Matt Frewer).
Their sessions have an enlightening purpose and the three help him in no small way when a delicate and potentially drastic medical operation is just round the corner.
The film benefits tremendously from the excellently written script by Will Reiser. This has a tinge of reality mixed with Hollywood drama. Mr Reiser, now in remission, was himself diagnosed with cancer at the age of 27.
Just because a character has cancer does not suddenly elevate him into being a saint or provide him with an elevated sense of consciousness, as most films usually depict people afflicted with the dreaded C.
Instead, Mr Levitt delivers a character people can associate with and feel for. This is no superman, or Hollywood guru. This is a normal Joe, an everyday person who is suddenly placed in a situation that is harrowing and very scary indeed.
Adam’s relationship with Kyle provides most of the laughs, especially in how they attempt to use this situation in order to get chicks. This relationship is the one to induce the most tears, amidst the chuckles, in this film.
Anna Kendrick as the young therapist displays a charming screen presence while Bryce Dallas Howard is given a character that, albeit very real, is not sympathetic at all. Anjelica Huston is as usual quite formidable and there are certain elements in her portrayal that strike quite a few chords.
By the end I was left with the memory of beautifully written characters, heart-felt situations and resolutions.