That may be the odds of beating this type of cancer, but the film takes audiences away 100%.
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A 50/50 chance of survival. That’s the odds cancer patient Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Inception) has. There are more things happening in the film though, taking the audience through a journey that is with both positive and negative. It’s filled with completely inappropriate jokes and tear jerking scenes.
The story begins with Adam living an average yet happy life, with the exception of some back pains. However after an appointment with his doctor, Adam finds that he has cancer. The rest of the film consists of his dealing with the disease and trying to beat it. Through the struggle of cancer itself, Adam’s life begins to tear at the seems, with his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help) cheating on him, his mother (Angelica Huston, When In Rome) becoming overbearing, his best friend (Seth Rogan, Kung Fu Panda 2) using the disease to pick up women, and his therapist (Anna Kendrick, Scott Pilgrim Versus The World) being horribly inexperienced. After an unlikely course of events and a mental breakdown or two, everything turns out to be all right, well sort of.
Adam shaving his head to ignore the hair loss with chemo while his friend watches
This film has many quirks to it. The story, while following Hollywood’s trend of movies based off of true stories, is both predictable and original. The fact that it is predictable is because I could see some of the moments coming, such as him dating the therapist, or his survival of the surgery. But then come moments like him getting high with a few fellow cancer patients, or his therapist gives him a ride, and it turns into him cleaning out her car.
But then there are the lows he faces, such as finding out his girlfriend cheated on him, then having her come back to try and get back together with him. Or when one of his fellow cancer patients dies. These really drive home the seriousness behind the message.
As for the dialogue and character interaction, 50/50 has some of the best that has come out of Hollywood recently. The character reactions are believable, with the best friend breaking down when he first finds out about his Adam having cancer, the crude humor to ease the tension about the subject, and the breakdown in the car were all viable reactions to the situation. These character reactions only being a bit off with how calm Adam seems in some of the situations. But the fact that he does have that mental breakdown adds to his character and makes it more believable.
The best character reaction comes from the mother. While she does not appear in most of the movie, the parts where she is present her ability to pull off the emotional stress and the heart-felt moments really makes her character one that people can relate to, even if it is just seeing their own mother.
The movie poster
50/50 stands out in the fact that it is a dark comedy; a type of film that is not heard much about these days. Either you hear of the pure comedies, such as Bridesmaids or The Hangover, or just plain dark and serious films, like The Social Network or 127 Hours. The fact that 50/50 takes a swing at both the dark and the funny is risky. It can go over well, like it did with The King’s Speech, or have it turn out to just be all right, like it did with Funny People. While both films are both dark and funny, something about Funny People just falls apart. While 50/50 does share some aspects with Funny People, such as the fact both involve cancer patients and have Seth Rogan acting as the best friend, it takes more after The King’s Speech with the fact that it remains serious while managing to keep the lighter side in such a way that it does not invalidate the darker parts of the film.
Overall, does this film have Oscar potential? Not so much, there is some chance that it will, with the slim pickings of films for the Oscars that there seems to be this year, but there is still plenty of time for something more serious to come out. Is it worth the $10 to see it in theaters? Yes, it is. The film will bring people to see both sides that it is trying to present. The film brings plenty of laughs, plenty of tear-jerking moments and plenty of situations that leave the viewer content. There may be a plethora of movies out there but 50/50 should be seen at least once 100% of the time.
Rating : ★★★★★
