Sunday, October 2, 2011

50 / 50

“50 / 50” (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen & Anna Kendrick)

If ever there was a feel good cancer film, this is it. I’ve always liked Gordon-Levitt, but this is the second humorous performance by Rogen this year - & the first where he’s actually playing someone who looks just like Seth Rogen.
“50 / 50” is based on the true story of what happened to an actual friend of Seth Rogen’s – so that makes it even more amazing since Rogen is basically playing himself & is the main reason this cancer drama is pretty damn funny.
My cousin’s 17 year old son asked me last week if I could make any film, as the director, which one would I have liked to have made. Being a narcissist, I answered “A Flickering Of Inner Light” (the title of my second novel) But of films that have already been made, I said “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” because it ran the gamut of emotions – it was seriously dramatic, hilariously funny and had a poignant, lump in the throat finale. “50 / 50”, though not anywhere near being on par with the quality of ‘Cuckoo’s’ does that as well. Nicholson had to do it all in ‘Cuckoo’s’, but here the load is shared by the three leads mentioned above.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam – his best friend Kyle (Rogen) is kind of a dickhead, but even though he tries to use Adam’s illness to get them both laid, there’s an underlying concern that Kyle shows that makes him acceptable. They both work at Seattle Public Radio, where unlike the radio station I worked at for 18 years, they never seem to air anything. But Adam’s working life is a minor portion of this film – what makes it beat are the relationships he has / had / & hopes to live long enough to get.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays Rachael, Adam's artist girlfriend who is just on the verge of becoming Adam’s permanent room mate when the tumor is discovered on Adam’s spine.
With cackling glee Kyle helps to bring that relationship to a crashing end, leaving Adam to fight off both his over-protective mother (Anjelica Huston) & the bimbos that Kyle wants to score with by using Adam’s sickness as an aphrodisiac.
Anna Kendrick gives another pleasant performance as Katie, Adam’s appointed psychologist/therapist who doesn’t exactly install a lot of confidence in Adam by revealing he’s her third patient... ever. But it is Katie who puts things in perspective for Adam on many levels.
The title comes from Adam’s research of his illness on a website that had ‘50/50’ as the chance of survival for this disease. As Kyle tells him, “Hey, if you were a casino game, you’d have the best odds!”
This is an excellent film, even with the hokey ending, which, I’ll be honest, if it didn’t end the way it did, I would have been disappointed, so I’m guilty this time of wanting the stereotypical ending & then not being disappointed when I got it. Some films earn my respect by giving me the unexpected, but I don’t think this one would have worked by doing that.
Not a bad performance in the cast – but I am concerned with Opie Cunningham’s daughter giving her second performance of 2011 playing a total b*tch! Okay, Bryce, we get it, you can play unlikable, now gives us someone friendly please!
Like ‘Dolphin Tale’ this is one of those films that if you say anything bad about it, you’re just mean...





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3 comments:

No Bad Movies said...

Good flick. Well acted by all...I have no qualms. Gordon-Levitt is snagging some good projects. He'll be in the next Dark Knight sequel and has signed on for Spielberg's Lincoln project as well. That's casted nicely too.

Lily said...

I loved it. I'm glad the humor and the drama was mixed together well - the scene where Gordon-Levitt's character breaks down in the car was awful, but then they show Rogen watching through the window and it cracked me up). I usually cry during movies like this, but this was the first time that I was distracted by all the funny stuff.

Terry Reid said...

"50 / 50" is my 3rd favorite film of 2011. I'd be outraged that it didn't get any Oscar nominations, but my favorite film of 2011 didn't either ("The Debt")
Lily is correct in how well the dramatic moments blend into the comedic ones and they pull it off perfectly.