Review of 50/50 (2011) by Robert L — 26 Oct 2013

Murder by Numbers?

50/50 is a hip indie comedy drama starting Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan, the film aims to tackle the subject of cancer, an interesting pick for any movie. But I suppose the reel question is will 50/50 be Broken or Bad?

You know sometimes a film can surprise you, and sometimes it can be as obvious as they come, and some times, just sometimes a film can feel by the numbers, 50/50 does all 3.

The film is an independent movie and boy does it show, the film is both themed, scripted and directed as if it's must tick every single box that an Indie film must fore fill. Two main characters, played by two sort of well-known actors? Check. A acoustic soundtrack? Check. A little to moderate amount of soul searching? Check. A amount of peril introduced early on? Check. A musical montage for the finale? Check. And so it goes on and on.

However, 50/50 did surprise me, it is in fact a neat little comedy drama, both about friendship and cancer. Any film about cancer must be a hard sell to make, but somehow the film got made and the world might just be a little bit of a better place because of it. I'm not saying the film is ground breaking in anyway, however it was a pleasant surprise.

In the same way as I was surprised I was also underwhelmed by it all, (I know that sounds like a contradiction but stay with me) the film has no real surprises, you could watch the first 15 minutes and accurately guess the ending of the movie. But this in its self asks the question of, why do we watch films like this? If we know the ending before we start why bother?

Personally? I think it's just for the sheer enjoyment of cinema, to see those little moments you hadn't predicted on, and to view the ones you had play out on screen in front of you is the joy of a film like 50/50, it also does try and take a stab at a very difficult subject and brings it out so well.

That's what I liked about 50/50 was that it felt realistic. The movie didn't come across forced or as if it was trying to impress anyone, 50/50 appears to be made so people might think differently about cancer and the people who suffer from it. For it's guts alone 50/50 deserves to be seen.

To the films credit it is incredibly well acted, but I expect nothing less than perfection from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anna Kendrick. The film is sprinkled with a couple more familiar faces however it was interesting to watch Seth Rogan play pretty much the same roles he always plays. I can't tell if I enjoyed his performance yet or not.

50/50 does have one major drawback which should be raised. The film has a kind of morbid and nasty view on women, all of the female characters are either used or neglected. I find it difficult to accept Seth Rogan's treatment of them in particular, but maybe that's just me.

50/50 is worth the gamble of your time and effort to watch, it's a film that has the right measure of almost everything, apart from gender politics.