50/50 Movie Review

By: Jenn Carroll

Make a movie staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the main character, and add Seth Rogen’s usual comedic role, as Gordon-Levitt’s best friend, and you’ve got a movie that is sure to be a hit. Make it a comedy about cancer, though, and you might lose quite a few of the viewers. While it may sound like a movie that shouldn’t be made, it was is worth seeing. 50/50, which is inspired by a true story, is one of, if not the best, movies that has been released so far this year.

The fact that the story is based on a true story might make viewers assume that they’ve stretched the truth quite a lot, but in reality, the movie is inspired by screenwritter Will Reiser and his struggle with malignant spinal cancer. Not only was the screenplay written by the guy that it’s about, but Rogen is actually a friend of Reiser’s that was there with him through his journey to beat this cancer. Looking at it, this is probably one of the most actually true movies that is based on a true story.

50/50 is overall completely realistic. Adam (Gordon-Levitt) is the main character, a radio reporter, who is diagnosed with malignat spinal cancer, rare for a 27-year-old to get. Kyle (Rogen), Adam’s best friend, is trying to live as close to a normal life as he can. He also brings comedy into every situation that he can, trying to make the situation much easier to deal with for Adam. Adam’s girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), is the one that really doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. Scenes with Adam’s extremely inexperienced therapist, Katherine (Anna Kendrick), and his mother (Anjelica Huston), who is overbearing and trying to deal with not only having a son with cancer but a husband with Alzheimer’s disease, keep the emotion of the movie high, and also, in the end, help Adam figure out what’s really important in his life. And just because the movie’s a comedy, doesn’t mean that it lacks the sadness that movies about cancer usually carry. It may not be a tearjerker from start to finish, but there are heartfelt moments that might make you shed a few tears. If anything, you’ll at least laugh a lot.

Some may still be put off by the idea of making a comedy about cancer, but 50/50 is well worth seeing. 50/50 is an inspiring story, and while it may sound like a movie that could end up being terrible, it’s done outstandingly.