3 ½ stars (out of four)
Adam (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a young Seattleite
who works in public radio with his best bud Kyle (Rogen). Adam and his
girlfriend Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) are entering the domestic stage of
their relationship – she is flattered to learn he has made space for her
clothes in one of his dresser drawers – though Kyle has some choice words
regarding Rachel’s prudishness and Adam’s flagging sex life.
Still, life appears to be as good as it gets for a hip,
well-dressed twentysomething such as Adam. That is, until he receives the
unfortunate diagnosis from his doctor. He has a malignant tumor on his spine.
The news creates serious ripples in his personal life and each of those closest
to him react differently.
Kyle is perhaps even more distraught than Adam but, like a
true friend, he is quick to provide distractions. Does Adam realize, for
example, how easy picking up chicks will be when they hear he has cancer? Not
to mention the medicinal marijuana. Rogen is in goofy best friend mode here
(something he does exceedingly well) and his bumbling stoner cadence is just
right to diffuse potential melodrama and lighten the mood for his pal.
The other members of Adam’s support circle are less
reliable. Rachel may not be as prepared for the difficulties of chemotherapy as
she claims and Adam’s overbearing mother (Anjelica Huston) only makes him more
anxious with her persistent maternal worries.
Two older gentlemen Adam meets in chemotherapy, Alan
(Phillip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer), offer a more understanding
perspective. They know how painful the treatment can be and assuage Adam’s
fears with jokes and homemade weed macaroons.
Adam also starts seeing a hospital therapist, Katherine
(Anna Kendrick), a doctorate student still new to treating actual patients. She
accurately identifies Adam’s reactions to the disease by pointing out the
stages of shock and anger to him but her textbook approach is hardly
comforting. Indeed, the two learn from one another and tiptoe around the
patient/therapist relationship while laying the groundwork for a possible
romance.
Kendrick, who received an Oscar nomination for her
performance as a calculating but ultimately naive businesswoman in Up in the
Air, plays a softer shade of that character
here. She has a wonderful way of using the tics and fidgets of uncomfortable
social interactions to flesh out a character. Underneath the cutesy-perky
energy of her characters, she finds the tension between their emotional
vulnerability and the sterile professionalism they have been told to exhibit.
As a lead, Joseph Gordon-Levitt skillfully navigates the
film’s tonal shifts between comedy and drama. His shell-shocked response to the
diagnosis works well as a comedic foil for Seth Rogen but Gordon-Levitt also
has the chops to handle the heavier material. Adam’s silence is punctuated by
outbursts of rage and fear late in the film as the gravity of his situation
becomes clearer.
50/50 deftly examines
the emotional turmoil of cancer treatment though it mostly does so through the
familiar mechanisms of a romantic comedy structure. All of the pieces are in
place – the best friend, the waning relationship and the new romantic prospect
on the rise – but they are more effective here than in similar films because
the emotions are authentic. Either 50/50 is a heartfelt drama that conforms to Hollywood conventions or a
rom-com imbued with surprising genuineness. Whichever way you prefer to look at
it, this is an entertaining and thoughtful film about the unexpected
complications life throws our way and the strength of human connection in
difficult times.
- Steve Avigliano, 10/2/11
- Steve Avigliano, 10/2/11
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