Review of 50/50 (2011) by Jayme S — 11 Jun 2013

Who would have guess the "cancer comedy" would have been so good? 50/50 is an amazing film. What other movie can you say can take a topic as dark and depressing as cancer and turn it into a story that is so bright and actually hilarious? Sure, there was drama and some difficult times, but this movie mostly showed the story of a man trying to embrace the good aspects of the horrible disease and to see the bright side with the help of family and friends.

It's the little things that get you. 50/50 is impressive on many levels, but by far the most impressive was the writing. The writing was beautiful. It embraced every aspect to the story that even the smallest parts were as if they were the huge ones. In the scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt has dropped off Seth Rogen at his house, Gordon-Levitt goes to the bathroom and notices that Rogen has a book called "Facing Cancer Together" and when Gordon-Levitt opens up the book you see that there are sections underlined and arrows pointing to important information. 50/50 is full of scenes like this and that's what makes it so impactful and emotionally rewarding.

50/50 probably gets a bad wrap for being the movie that makes fun of cancer, but it doesn't, not even close. It takes cancer and instead of making it dreary and somber, it becomes a film that can mask the sadness and put something incredible in its place, even beautiful.