Review #280: '50/50' (2011)

Young radio writer Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is happily living his life when he is diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer. Frustrated and gob-smacked, Adam tries to carry on with his life living with a disease that has a 50/50 chance of killing him. He lives with his selfish, self-centred girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), who is more fond of partying than looking after Adam's interests. Always there for him is his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), who is always on hand to provide medical marijuana, and his trainee psychologist Katherine (Anna Kendrick), while Adam's mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) has difficulty accepting it.

Seth Rogen and his writing team have already blended comedy-drama with disease in the brilliant and vastly underrated Funny People (2009), which brought out an award-worthy performance by Adam Sandler. Yet where Sandler's characters' disease was a prop that would propel his character in re-evaluating his life and choices, in 50/50 it is the focal point. We follow Adam though every stage of his illness, from the emotional torment and confusion after his diagnosis, through to his chemo, to the final operation that may ultimately kill him. Screenwriter Will Reiser, who wrote the film based on his own experiences, beautifully juxtaposes the sad and profoundly moving along with the funny. It is more heavy on the drama than the comedy, but the film is still hilarious, mainly thanks to the supporting actors.

Levitt is an extremely likeable and hugely talented actor, and after years in independent cinema (starring in the likes of the wonderful Mysterious Skin (2004) and Brick (2005)), seems to be finally getting his deserved big break after the recent (500) Days of Summer (2009) and Inception (2010). Here he uses his every-man charisma to create a wholly believable nice-guy character. Ultimately though, the film belongs to Seth Rogen. He is surprisingly touching as the reliable best friend who can only communicate his affection with cock jokes and trying to get Adam laid. He also hates Rachael, and when he finds out that she is not putting out for Adam, he has possibly the best line of the whole film - "if I was your girlfriend, I'd be sucking your cock right now!".

Anna Kendrick also does herself no harm, expertly playing cute and sweet, and one half of a potential romance that I was really rooting for. The fact that Adam may die before they have a chance adds to underlying sadness. With Levitt and Kendrick as the two players, 50/50's rom-com moments achieve far more in small doses than the majority of other rom-com's can only dream of reaching. Huston displays why she is still an acting powerhouse, with her concerned yet hard-as-nails mother stealing the few scenes she has.

It is a film full of great performances, but special mention must also go to director Jonathan Levine, who keeps  any technical flourishes to a bare minimum, allowing the actors to play out the fantastic script in front of a mainly hand-held camera. A wise decision, as the subject matter and the brilliance of the dialogue doesn't require flashy moments of quirkiness. He does, however, deliver an amusing and weirdly moving scene where Adam, stoned from his cancer-buddies 'special' macaroons, wanders down a hospital corridor in slow-motion, giggling at everything he sees, which includes people in various stages of their cancer and a dead body.

One of the best comedies of the decade, and one of the finest films of the year. 50/50 can sit alongside those other modern greats from Rogen and his gang - Superbad, Knocked Up (both 2007) and Funny People. Powerful, uplifting, hilarious, sad and extremely moving - it is not often that a film can achieve so much in such a subtle way.


Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Philip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie