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50/50
- Director: Jonathan Levine
- Release Date: Sep 2011
- Run Time: 99
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
Adam Learner (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is your average Joe; a pleasant twenty seven year old who works as a writer, going about life as per normal. He has a sexy girlfriend, Rachael (played by Bryce Howard) and a good old best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen)
One fateful day Adam decides to see an oncologist to seek help on his consistent back aches. It is then he discovers he has cancer, and has a 50-50 chance of surviving ( I guess we can now put to rest any questions on what inspired the movie title). He is in a state of shock and disbelief. While still in this state, he is told he has to go for Chemotherapy if he is to have any chance for survival.
The story, though one with the heavy theme of life with cancer, it told in a comical manner that offers welcome relief from the dreadfulness of cancer. Disease diagnosis comedies are difficult to pull off but 50-50 pulls through. This is likely due to the fact that the story is based on the true life of the script writer, (Will Reiser) , who was similarly diagnosed with spinal cancer some years ago. His actual good friend Rogen plays the role of Kyle, the best friend who helps Adam kick the disease.
Kyle offers Adam a lot of encouragement and support during this period. He comically shows the benefit of the disease, such as using it to gain sympathy when picking up women. Kyle is the centre of comic relief in the movie. Adam’s mother also rushes to the rescue, offering to move in so as to be in a better position to assist her son. She is overzealous with this support, adding to the laughs in this movie. Rachel, on the other hand, puts the saying “in sickness and in health” to shame. Though she promises to take care of him and be the doting girlfriend he needs, she is anything but, and even cheats on him. You would think one would be full of guilt from cheating on one’s boyfriend diagnosed with cancer, but not Rachel.
We see from the movie firsthand experience of life with cancer; Adam joins a cancer support group where he meets Alan and Mitch, two older cancer patients that give him valuable advice on dealing with the disease as well as an interesting take on love and life. Though the movie may not be an altogether realistic representation of life with cancer, (it is much grimmer than portrayed in 50/50) it still provides good entertainment and an optimistic view on living with cancer, which may be what the audience needs to believe. Definitely worth a trip to the movies me thinks.