Hot-buttered opinion on the latest flicks
Review in a Hurry: About 60 percent buddy comedy and 40 percent cancer drama, 50/50 stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a tumor-stricken radio producer who endures chemo-clinics and counseling sessions while battling the disease. An amusing, heartfelt, but unexceptional portrait of friendship and survival, 50/50 gets a mostly favorable diagnosis.
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The Bigger Picture: Screenwriter Will Reiser taps into his personal battle with the dreaded C-word for this loosely autobiographical story. Proving that laughter is the best medicine, his 50/50 balances comedy with tears (and nausea).
Adam Lerner (affable Gordon-Levitt) is a mellow, sensitive dudeâ€"he works at Seattle NPR, after allâ€"and enjoys a comfortable life with artist girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard). But a trip to the doctor for back pain reveals he has a rare malignant tumor on his spinal column and, yes, a 50/50 chance of survival.
As Adam undergoes treatment, Rachael freaks from the sobering reality and even cheats on the poor guy. However, best bud Kyle (Seth Rogen) is there for supportâ€"in fact, he's always there, to the point of smotheringâ€"and even goads Adam into using his condition to lure chicks into sympathy sex.
It would have been refreshing to see Rogen play something other than a chortling, schlubby stoner helping his friend get laid. Similarly, Howard adds another hiss-able villainess to her résumé after her haughty turn in The Help.
Anna Kendrick also treads familiar territory as novice therapist Katherine, who counsels Adam during a series of increasingly flirtatious sessions. As in Up in the Air, Kendrick's character is uptight and awkward as she overcompensates for her lack of experience. Thankfully, awesome-but-underused Anjelica Huston appears as Adam's mom and gives the film some of its most poignant moments.
Despite the conventional casting and formulaic story beats, 50/50 still offers a healthy dose of good humor and mostly avoids the maudlin, though there's one too many montages of Adam wandering wet city streets to a pensive alt-rock score. Ah wellâ€"this is Seattle.
The 180â€"a Second Opinion: Those without strong stomachs might get queasy from scenes involving chemo, vomit and surgical scars. But they're relatively tame.
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