Review - 50/50

It Beats The Odds

As a 27-year-old man, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) seems to have everything together. He does all the right things. He’s working hard. He’s working out. He has a girlfriend. And life in general seems just fine. Until he goes in for a check on a sore back and his doctor fits the words “you have cancer” into the middle of the results. How could he have cancer? He’s 27 and does everything he’s supposed to do; how could HEhave cancer?

Now that he has the news; it’s time to cope with things. He informs his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) who promises to stay with him through the process. He lets his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) in on the news and Kyle promptly proclaims 50/50 odds are really pretty good! He even tells his mom (Anjelica Huston) who promptly proclaims that she is moving in. (Adam nixes that idea right quick).

Everyone seems to be lining up to help with the next chapter of Adam’s life. He even starts with a young therapist (Anna Kendrick) who is starting with him as one of her first patients since graduating. She is using all the book knowledge she has learned and trying, desperately, to personalize the battle.

With everyone lined up to help, things must go easy, right?

This film surprised me upon seeing it. I didn’t expect it to grab me the way it did. It deals with a serious, life-changing event that usually doesn’t impact young people. When we see movies dealing with cancer, they deal with folks much older and learned. This is a great film for the youth of America to deal with.

Much of the stress is dealt with in a real way. Humor is at the forefront, as if you don’t laugh at things you just might cry. Seth Rogen wonderfully plays an understated comedic role that is a bit different from most of the characters he takes on. Anna Kendrick plays her role to perfection and Bryce Dallas Howard shows she can really deliver. But the star here is still Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the role of Adam you feel his pain. You laugh, you cry and you progress as he does.

A touching, sweet and funny film that will stay with you; 50/50 delivers in every way. My diagnosis is that there is WELL over a 50/50 chance you will enjoy this film. 50/50 beats the odds and is quite enjoyable.

A-

50/50

Summit Entertainment

Director: Jonathan Levine

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content and some drug use.

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes