By “50/50” may seem to just be about a character dealing with cancer at first, but it really grows into something beyond that — a believable experience of a real person. The movie also successfully adds just the right touches of comedy to a serious topic.
On a seemingly normal visit to the hospital, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets hit with the news that he has spinal cancer, and is unable to come to terms with the diagnosis. The film then chronicles Adam’s experience with chemotherapy, while interacting with those closest to him and those who he meets on the way.
He gains a new outlook on life and finally decides to go along with best friend Kyle’s (Seth Rogen) shenanigans of using cancer to his advantage. His mother Diane (Angelica Houston) attempts to contact him while supporting his father, Richard (Serge Houde), who has Alzheimer’s. Adam’s hospital therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick) does not know how to help him and works in script.
The relationships between the characters are believable due to the success of the actors’ and actresses’ portrayals, as well as the writing done by comedic writer Will Reiser, who is also a cancer survivor.
Gordon-Levitt steals the show with his performance, and is able to reveal all of the different sides of Adam throughout the rough journey. Adam undergoes many changes throughout the movie, and Gordon-Levitt’s portrayal of his relationships with the other characters at his different stages is impressive, shifting from annoyance to pure anger and frustration, as well as from annoyance to hope and appreciation.
Rogen, on the other hand, may come off as forced and overbearing at first, especially when he constantly insists that Adam needs to get laid and loudly describes what “froggy style” is in a coffee shop. However, he is still endearing and brings in some good laughs.
Besides some of Rogen’s contrived attempts to add jokes into the movie, much of the comedic scenes are there when they’re supposed to be, just as the serious scenes are there when necessary. This is a movie that can naturally make audiences shift from laughing to crying in a single scene. It doesn’t try to force out any deep messages or life lessons, but they’re there if the audience chooses to acknowledge them.
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