There was a moment, about three quarters of the way through this movie, where my mind just sort of shut off. I stopped analyzing, stopped debating what would come next, stopped thinking. In that moment, I was completely immersed, surrendering to the experience. That’s how good 50/50 is.
50/50 is a movie about cancer, not the lightest of subject matters. We follow the film’s main protagonist, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), from his diagnosis through his treatment. It’s not always an easy journey to watch, but the script is sharp. This isn’t like any movie I’ve seen before about cancer. Most use the disease as a prop, a way of adding heightened meaning to the proceedings before the main character eventually kicks the bucket. 50/50 simply enlightens its audience to the experience, and the result is surprisingly more universal than you would expect.
This of course all makes more sense if you know some of the story behind the movie. 50/50 is loosely based on screenwriter Will Reiser’s encounter with the disease, and his insights into the subject matter really do feel as though he’s letting you in on his own personal experience. The relationships in this movie are complex, and the friction between Adam and his support system is palpable.
Of course all of what I’ve said so far is completely ignoring the fact that 50/50 is really, really funny as well. The true feat of this movie is its ability to almost effortlessly transition from some genuinely heavy moments straight into laughs. I guess it doesn’t hurt to have your best friend played by Seth Rogen, who for those of you who don’t know is actually one of Reiser’s real-life friends. Needless to say he does an excellent job of playing what I can only assume is pretty much himself.
The rest of the cast is quite strong as well. Anjelica Huston is not surprisingly a forceful presence as Adam’s spiralling mother, and Anna Kendrick shows why her Best Supporting Actress nomination for Up in The Air definitely wasn’t a fluke.
The real star here though is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who seems to have had an incredible run of hits of late. His performance as Adam is wonderfully poignant and is a large part of why the film works so well. He’s come a long way since his days as Tommy Solomon on Third Rock from the Sun.
The Oscars are still a few months away but I don’t think it’s too early to start talking about nominations, and 50/50 should definitely be a part of that conversation. Few films have ever been able to tackle this kind of subject matter and simultaneously come out both this heartfelt and this funny. 50/50 makes it look easy.
