50/50 Review
by Ben Chamberlain
50/50 is inspired by the true story of a young man that gets diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and how he battles his way through the disease. Might sound a bit depressing on paper but 50/50 is one of the joyous and uplifting films of 2011, held together by wonderful performances and a carefully written narrative.
Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) leads a pretty sad life, he is in a sexless relationship, he is getting nowhere fast at work and he has a dysfunctional family. When diagnosed with cancer, instead of rolling over and accepting his fate, Adam finds the joy in life and starts the epic fight for his life.
The film seamless blends comedy and drama. Quiet and powerful moments of the disease destroying Adam's life lead beautifully into scenes of his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) trying his best to make this easy for Adam. It is exactly how this would get played out in real-life, your family and doctors are depressing you and your best friends just want you to enjoy every minute you have left. Its realism is where 50/50 succeeds the most, it at times feels like you are matching a documentary and getting emotionally invested in these characters has never been easier.
The realism stems from the truth in the script. Writer Will Reiser is the real-life Adam and Seth Rogen is the real-life, well, Seth Rogen. The 2 are best friends and they lived almost every scene from the script when Will Reiser was crippled by the same terrible cancer Adam gets in the film. The script clearly means the world to Reiser as it is near-perfect, one of the best scripts released this year.
Whilst the script is fantastic, it is nothing without its cast. Gordon-Levitt handles the lead role with spectacular care and quiet precision, he never overacts, never plays it up to the audience, he handles the character as if it were him himself living with the design. If he doesn't get an Oscar nomination it'll be a true crime. But lets not forget the rest of the cast, Rogen is restrained, caring and sweet, he is a loveable full-mouthed teddy bear. I'd want him as a friend. Kendrick is good but perhaps a little too young for such a mature role, she doesn't handle it as strong as she did in Up in the Air.
50/50 is touchingly beautiful and handled with care by its entire cast and crew, it will bring you to tears and laughter as you follow these great characters through the trials and tribulations of having cancer. The film is made with love and it turns out that 50/50 is the easiest film to fall in love with all year.