Terms of Enjoyment

There is nothing sentimental about cancer. It does not care who you are, where you are from, or whatever plans you've made for your life. You can make practical life choices to keep yourself away from risk, but, when it comes right down to it, cancer can destroy the life of you or anyone you know at any time without warning. Is everyone suitably depressed now? I thought so.

You now understand the hurdle that writer Will Reiser and director Jonathan Levine faced with50/50. Reiser, a former writer on Da Ali G Show adapted his own story into the screenplay for 50/50, the story of a young man's struggle with a rare form of spinal cancer.

This does not, on paper, sound like the recipe for a winning comedy. I can read the critical blurbs now. "You'll test positive for hilarity", says The New York Post. "You'll needs years of intense treatment to wipe the smile from your face", says The Boston Globe. Amazingly though, the films toes the line between crass humor and sickly sentimentality and ends up being both genuinely funny and surprisingly moving.

50/50 understands the one big thing about cancer that we don't like to talk about, especially when it touches those near us. Cancer does not make you heroic or inspirational, nor does it make you wise beyond your years. It just makes you a sick.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam, the protagonist and Will Reiser stand-in, with this in mind. Gordon-Levitt is an actor that I've always enjoyed, but who has never particularly impressed me. His work in 50/50 is his best to date, never overplaying any of the emotional moments. Seth Rogen, who was a friend of Reiser's during his real-life cancer ordeal, gives a stellar performance as Adam's best friend Kyle. Rogen is forced to walk a fine line between lovable and sleazy and does so with ease. The two actors have a remarkably easy rapport and keep the humor from feeling forced. Angelica Huston and Phillip Baker Hall both give memorable turns as Adam's sometimes difficult mother and a fellow cancer patient Adam bonds with respectively.

The film kind of drops the ball when it comes to Adam's love life, though. Bryce Dallas Howard gives a rather shrill and one-note performance as Rachael, Adam's girlfriend. Howard is a capable actress, but the script doesn't give her much nuance to work with. Anna Kendrick is very good as Adam's therapist, but it felt like there wa something missing in the relationship between her and Adam. Neither of these female characters are given quite enough to do, and, as a result, the ending suffers somewhat. That being said, the film shines elsewhere, especially in the relationship between Adam and Kyle.

Director Jonathan Levine gives the film a subdued, but distinctive style, making it more visually appealing than most comedies. The film also has a great soundtrack, but has more awesome music cues than it can really justify. It ends up giving the film a little bit of a pseudo-indie vibe that's mostly useless and ill-fitting. Still, the film looks quite striking.

50/50's talented cast and sharp, sensitive script make up for its ultimately minor shortcomings. There are many movies about cancer (50/50 cleverly name drops a couple of them), but almost all of them sentimentalize it into deep Lifetime movie territory. 50/50 has its share  of emotional moments, among the most emotional I've seen this year, but it never lets that emotion weigh down what is ultimately a story of personal growth. Reiser and Levine punctuate all of the emotional scenes with perfectly timed jokes that release necessary amounts of tension without undercutting any of the drama onscreen.

50/50 is kind of a tough sell; the idea of terminal illness and comedy coming together sounds potentially uncomfortable at best and downright offensive at worst. Thankfully, 50/50 beats the odds. Hilarious, smart, touching, and life-affirming, 50/50 is the unlikeliest feel-good movie of the year.