50/50

50/50 was released on September 30, 2011. It was written by Will Reiser, directed by Jonathan Levine, and stars Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, and Bryce Dallas-Howard.



Cancer is a horrible thing. You, and everyone you know has been affected by cancer. Will Reiser, the film's writer, is very unfortunate, in that he suffered from cancer. He decided to write about his experiences, adapting them to film. That's this film. It's poignant, powerful, and very eye-opening, showing us how cancer patients live with their disease, until they get rid of it, or it kills them. Also, this film is a comedy.

I mean, come on, Seth Rogen's in it, you know it's gonna be a comedy. He does a superhero film, it'll be a comedy (a bad one at that). Now, to be fair, this film technically is a dramedy, favouring the comedy side. When this film wants to be dramatic, that's where you get the poignant, the powerful, and the eye-opening.

The film is about Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young man who works at a radio station, who is diagnosed with a rare type of spinal cancer. He begins treatment, receiving support from his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), and his mother (Angelica Houston), who is also supporting Adam's father, (Serge Houde) an Alzheimer's patient. He also begins seeing a therapist assigned to him by the hospital, young Dr. Katie McKay (Anna Kendrick), as well as making friends with two older, wise-cracking cancer patients (Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer).

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a good actor, and here, he's still good. Something I've always noticed about him is that he rarely does angry, but when he does, he's great. He is angry here, as he is suffering from cancer. It's really interesting to see. The only other film I recall him doing angry was (500) Days of Summer, and he wasn't terribly angry in that, whereas in this film, he does full out angry. And when he isn't angry? He's still great. Quite frankly, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the best actors of this generation. Bogart, Nicholson, De Niro, Gordon-Levitt.

The other actors are great as well, Seth Rogen in particular. He's doing his typical comedy routine, which he is very good at. You see that his character does care for his friend, while still being hilarious. Anna Kendrick, I find, is great at being giddy, naive, and way under her head, but trying to keep her cool. That perfectly describes her role in this film. She's a young doctor, who deals with cancer patients. Not an easy job. It's a great role for her, as it seems like that;s the kind of person she is in real life. Her performance reminded me of her character in Up in the Air, very naive and young, in a tough situation. Bryce Dallas Howard also did a good job, playing Adam's artsy girlfriend. You'd believe that she's an artsy chick, and I do.

The writing of this film, based on writer Will Reiser's life, is very heartfelt, and funny at the same time. The comedy is absolutely hilarious (you don't realize how many funny situations you can get involved in with cancer and weed), but the film is also beautifully heartfelt. Admittedly, by the end of the film, it becomes a bit cliched, but it does keep a good amount of tension as we head into the end of the film. The directing is also good, suiting the film perfectly.

Overall, this was a nice little heartfelt film that a lot of people can enjoy. While it can be a bit cliche, the films needs this to keep audiences hopeful. Overall, I give this film an 8.5/10. Check it out if you want. It's an Oscar season comedy, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. It can't be that bad.

P.S. This was filmed in Vancouver, Seth Rogen's hometown, and my new town. Awesome.