50/50

A light hearted touch on a depressing subject ..loved it ,

How many drama movies about cancer treatment, with suffering performances and a true story of overcoming have been made and even became tiresome way? Well, the young director Jonathan Levine and Will Reiser (screenplay) found a formidable new vision of it all.

The film tells the story of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young man of twenty-seven years working for a radio company in Seattle. He is informed that he has a rare form of cancer called "Neurofibrosarcoma", and is told he only has a 50% chance to live with him. Frustrated, but moving day to day with a seemingly calm, with the help of his friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), Adam continues his long journey of recovery. Only to be bothered by his irritating, selfish girlfriend Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard). But with the help of the, half embarrassed but very helpful, psychologist Katherine (Anna Kendrick). Adam then proceeds to deal with their illness and can remain calm during most part of the film.

There are so many forms of cancer, rare and common, harmless and that their chances of getting it are very high. Start is random, but dealing with it is even more difficult. While "50/50" is a moving, and sometimes it is emotion-test and tearful, he still has a strong comic relief thanks to Seth Rogen, and several occasions that Adam and Kyle meddle.

The film is a drama, that works as a comedy very well written. Some may find this a defect, but rather a quality. Adam throughout the film faces its situation near death in a lively manner. It's as if the film were telling us, "if it is your last minutes, let then be smiling!".

The cast is terrific, even comic, Seth manages to have an interesting dramatic performance; Anna Kendrick formidable as ever; Angelica Houston and Serge Houde as Adam's parents with great performances; but who shines above everyone is Joseph Levitt with a fantastic performance, proving to be an very promising actor.

Thanks to a wonderful third act, in terms of direction and screenplay that never fail or work against the film at any time, the public has an emotional breakdown all of the characters and the story itself and fantastic to witness.

After playing a bad boy rocker with a full head of hair, Joseph Gordon-Levitt now plays a nervous Cancer-patient with no hair at all. 50/50 is loosely based on the story of Will Reiser, who wrote this film, and is telling us his story and struggle through the character Adam.

Adam is played by Levitt, a marvelous actor who is continuing his string of quirky, yet well made independent films where he plays an off-the-wall protagonist. Adam is twenty-seven and works for a Seattle radio company. He is informed that he has a rare form of Cancer called Neurofibrosarcoma, and is told he only has a 50% chance of living with it. Frustrated, but moving day by day in a seemingly calm manner with his buddy Kyle (Rogen), Adam continues his long journey only to be bothered by his annoying, self-centered girlfriend (Howard) frequently. Through thick and thin, Adam starts to cope with his disease and manages to stay calm for most of the picture.

We all have to die at one point. It's part of the life. But I can't imagine the sadness and calamity brought upon someone who finds out they have a rare form of Cancer and that their chances of living are fifty-fifty. At twenty-seven nonetheless. My mother, who has work in a Chemotherapy unit for about a decade, said that the youngest she has even seen someone die from Cancer is two and a half years old. Some people, hardly get to experience life at firsthand because of Cancer.

There are so many forms of Cancer, rare and common, harmless and not, that your chances of getting it are very high. Getting it is at random, but coping with it is even harder. While 50/50 has a heartbreaking, and is sometimes emotion-testing and tear-jerking, it still has a strong comedic relief thanks to Seth Rogen, who is rather unfairly bashed in a majority of his films.

The acting is superb by both leads, the parents of Adam played by Angelica Houston and Serge Houde are portrayed effectively and in a loving way, and the screenplay and Johnathan Levine's direction never fails or works against this film in any way. Three years prior he was creating good chemistry between Ben Kingsley and Josh Peck in The Wackness. Now, he's finally mastered in creating two characters that do nothing but sparkle when on screen together. You can't really call this a Seth Rogen film because while his comedy is here, his underlying sweetness shows through the cloth of this film more than it has ever done before. The last time he gave a performance this well done was in Sandler's Funny People.

Thanks to a wonderful third act in terms of direction and screenplay, you get an all out emotional breakdown from the characters and yourself. 50/50 has a way with making emotional moments not seemed contrived, but welcomed. I think out of everyone in the theater, my mom was more emotional than the average person in the general public which is understandable.

Many films have come out this year, and many have been ignored. Comedies and dramas alike have been swept under the bus with other blockbusters in theaters at the same time. I plan on doing a list of the top ignored and underrated films of 2011. I hope 50/50 doesn't make that list.

Starring: Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Bryce Dallas-Howard, Angelica Houston, and Serge Houde. Directed by: Johnathan Levine.

Mixing cancer and comedy doesn't seem like it should go so well, but 50/50 is a film that makes it work. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Adam, a 27 year old easy going guy who unexpectedly gets diagnosed with cancer. The film details his struggle to beat the disease and all the hardships that come along with having to fight a disease as crippling as cancer at such a young age. Adam is surrounded by various other people in his life that all influence him in different ways. Seth Rogen plays his best friend, Kyle, who always tries to help Adam out, but doesn't always know how to go about it. Anna Kendrick plays Adam's therapist, Katherine, whose attempts to help Adam cope with the cancer work at times, but at other times she just can't find the right way to connect with the grieving youngster. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Adam's girlfriend and Anjelica Houston is one of the strongest characters, Adam's overprotective mother. The film is a compassionate tale of love and friendship while simultaneously being a raunchy pothead comedy. The overlap is strange, but it works incredibly well.

There are so many ways to do a comedy film about cancer wrong, but very few ways to do it right. 50/50 thankfully manages to find the sweetspot of this risky terrain and succeeds in being a charmingly touching film as well as a wildly hilarious one. The writer of the film, Will Reiser, based the film on his own experiences with fighting and beating cancer at a young age, and his passion and understanding of this story shine beautifully through the film and its characters which surely all resemble Reiser's own friends and family in some way. 50/50 doesn't lean too far to either side of the comedy versus drama spectrum and it always maintains a consistent level of heartwarming hilarity balanced with touching sincerity. The drama and comedy weave in and out of each other perfectly and seamlessly with neither genre feeling inappropriate or out of place. It is sincere filmmaking at its finest.

Moreover, 50/50 just does a great job with its balance of genres, but also with the overall story and the great characters within that story. We grow such passionate empathy for Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a way I never thought could be possible. The film draws us into his troubled world so well and we are rooting for him all the way, cheering on his every move and growing more and more attached to him with every passing moment. We also grow to love the supporting cast who, with the exception of one particular character but I won't spoil anything, support Adam through all his hard times. The characters are all so well written and they play their key roles in Adam's life perfectly. 50/50 is a movie structured to where every character serves a major purpose in furthering Adam's development as well as the development of the plot. And so as we watch the relationships between Adam and the people in his life grow and fade we develop a deeper understanding of his character, making 50/50 an incredibly human story.

It's always nice to be so surprised by a film's quality. I expected good things from 50/50 from the first time I saw a trailer, but the movie itself exceeded my expectations. It is what the dramady subgenre is all about. It is a film tailor made to be the subgenre's posterchild. I laughed, I lamented, and I was brought close to tears at how heartwarming and touching of a film 50/50 is.

As someone who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago (non-small cell lung cancer--and a nonsmoker to boot!) I've been through the gantlet, from 4 different kinds of chemo, several surgeries, and a wide variety of medical care from indifferent to deeply caring. So, trust me when I tell you, that this movie gets it.

It gets what it is like to receive a horrific diagnosis out of the blue, the numbness and shock of dealing with it, the well meaning friends and acquaintances who say the stupidest things ("every time I feel sorry for myself, I just think of you..."), and those friends who really become your rock as you go through the miasma of treatment and try to still make your life have meaning. Again, this movie gets it.

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen deserve high praise for the honesty that they bring to their performances. There was not a false note anywhere. The rest of the cast is terrific as well. I plan to see it again when it is released in a month.

This is a quiet film but it packs a great deal of power. I thought the humor was wonderfully placed, because without humor, life with cancer is unbearable. As too many folks know so well. Go see it and be entertained and learn a bit and rejoice in life even with cancer.