Review - 50/50

It’s a difficult thing, pulling off a cancer comedy. Yeah, you read that right. Jonathan Levine’ film ditches the drama and tear-jerking from other tumour-themed entries in favour of sex, weed and Seth Rogen’s potty mouth. But try get past the sour premise and you’ll be surprised to find a film that is actually very sweet without being saccharine.

50/50 tells the story of 27 years-old Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer and must go through chemotherapy. Rather than dwelling on the negative, namely a 50% chance of survival, Adam is talked into enjoying life to the max by his best friend Kyle (Rogen), who proceeds to set him up with hot girls and procure copious amounts of medical marijuana to take the edge off.

The fact that it is based on screenwriter Will Reiser’s own experience with cancer may be a get-out-of-jail-free card, but there are times when 50/50 risks venturing too much into stoner-com territory and one or two gags do seriously blur the line of political correctness (“Loads of celebrities get over this cancer shit: Lance Armstrong, the guy from Dexter, Patrick Swayze…”).

Fortunately, Reiser’s script always knows how to rein in the characters and when to drop the laughs and focus on the more serious matters at hand. At one point Adam admits to his therapist (Anna Kendrick) that he is actually freaked out by his loved ones’ reluctance to address the possibility he may not actually survive this surreal ordeal. Another scene sees Adam inadvertently stumble upon a “Facing Cancer Together” book lying around Kyle’s apartment, shortly after chastising his best pal of being a selfish asshole. The overarching theme of confronting our mortality is present throughout.   

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a quietly impressive job as the cancer-stricken protagonist. His impressively mature and restrained handling of his unfortunate condition is oddly a frequent source of humour, until he eventually explodes into a fit of desperation that is deeply heart-breaking. He also shares good chemistry with a lusciously eccentric Anna Kendrick (who is just waiting to be cast in a Woody Allen film) and more importantly with frequent on-screen co-star Seth Rogen. The latter may be rehashing his usual slob shtick from the Judd Apatow films he’s been starring in for the past few years, but it does provide welcome respite the film’s more melancholic moments.   

Essentially, it is the script’s ability to prompt tears and laughs in equal measure that elevates 50/50 from cancer comedy (a tag that will sound increasingly misjudged by the end credits) to an affecting flick about people struggling to find humour in difficult circumstances.

3/5