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

Cancer is a matter that shouldn’t be laughed at. So when you hear of the new “cancer comedy” coming out, you are immediately offended. Well, 50/50 is a cancer comedy and I think it gets a bad rap for being that. 50/50 may have jokes throughout and some that even involve our protagonist’s spinal cancer, but the last thing 50/50 is doing is laughing at cancer.

There are a lot of movies that take on the tough subject of cancer and it’s usually about a person struggling with the illness and going into a depression or trying to provide for his family before it’s his time to go. What I’m saying is that they don’t take this subject lightly. 50/50 doesn’t take the subject lightly either; actually it is probably more accurate in its interpretation than any of the other films that go around the same concept. 50/50 takes cancer and instead of making it dreary and somber, it becomes a film that can mask the sadness and put something incredible, and even beautiful, in its place. It brings out the best of the situation with hilarity, and it shows the true struggles with drama, but it shows them in a way that you can tell that the characters are overcoming them one step at a time with the help from their family and friends.

50/50 is a success is a lot of its aspects, but the most impressive part is the writing. Will Reiser is a poet. The writing in this movie is so complex and so impactful, it’s beautiful. The best part about it, and I noticed this immediately after, is that even the smaller and less important events that occur during the movie are shown and felt as to be equal to the large events that occur. The small occurrences send just as much of an impact as the larger ones. There is a scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets angry at Seth Rogen out of stress and yells at him for using his cancer to get women and that he doesn’t care about him. In the net scene, JGL goes back to Rogen’s house and before leaving, decides to go to the bathroom and sitting on the toilet seat is a book called “Facing Cancer Together.” JGL opens up the book and sees that there are sections of text underlined and arrows pointing to important parts. Now this was only a short scene that doesn’t have much to do with the bulk of the plot, but it is nonetheless one of the most impactful and emotionally rewarding scenes in this movie. It shows that Rogen’s character was having difficulties with the cancer and that he really did care, and it shows it with utter finesse.

Another impressive aspect was the acting. The acting was phenomenal in this movie, from everyone in it. Even Seth Rogen showed us a dramatic side that we had no idea he had. He really surprised at how good he was at being the funny best friend to JGL (Kyle). But the best performance was from JGL himself. His character was a tough one to play. His character was the kind of person who you would think was nice when you met him, but you wouldn’t have any interest in meeting with him again. He was awkward, sad, and extremely sympathetic. JGL played the character in a way that he made the character almost intolerably sympathetic without making him unlikable. Nothing ever goes his way. Throughout the entire movie, even in the funny parts, you never lose that feeling that he has cancer and that he’s still trying to overcome that obstacle. This is an important thing to keep because you don’t want to lose sight of what’s truly going on.

50/50 moved me in ways I didn’t think a movie could. It wasn’t just a respectable film that effectively captures the raw emotion of cancer, but it was an incredibly entertaining one. It was hilarious, heartfelt, sad, and almost beautiful…no, it was beautiful. It takes the sorrow and sadness of cancer and masks the darkness with something bright and joyful that just makes you happy. That’s what this movie did, it made me happy. I don’t know how many movies about an illness you can say that about, but it made me happy and excited about life. I would even say that cancer patients should check this one out because it doesn’t make cancer out to be this dangerous and terrifying thing you should fear, it makes it out to be just another obstacle in the way of the great game of life. 50/50 digs to the heart of a tough situation with humor and drama without ever losing sight of what it really cares about, and what it cares about is magnificent.