50/50
Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 2:47PM Joining the very slim ranks of Cancer Comedies, 50/50 must surely number among the best of them. The film begins with a long shot of 27 year-old Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) jogging. It's unclear why the film begins this way (we never see him exercise again) but it's telling. Adam is about to embark on a sweaty exhausting journey with no set destination and it takes him awhile to come into focus.
As protagonists go, Adam is a passive blurry character. He lets his loud friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) control their friendship. Even though he's only just given her a dresser drawer, his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) is calling all the relationship shots - including no blow jobs which infuriates Kyle on Adam's behalf. Adam seems content to sit back and take whatever life does or doesn't offer him. Enter: Cancer...
...read the full review at Towleroad
P.S. Are you visiting JGL in the hospital this weekend or do you have other movie plans?
P.P.S. I didn't spend much time on her in the review but Anjelica Huston is just a marvel in her very brief role (2 ½ scenes?). She's had plenty of (unfortunate) time now to hone her skills at delivering full characterizations in mere moments. She gets two of the biggest laughs in the movie but it doesn't end with comedy. She's fierce and touching, too. Brava.
Reader Comments (14)
Damn, this looks good. I'll have to add it to my growing backlog of "movies I need to see before December unleashes 50 Oscar contenders over the span of three weekends." Has JGL made a bad movie yet (not counting GI Joe)? I've yet to see a JGL movie that I haven't at least moderately enjoyed.
"It's a blemish on this otherwise kind-hearted movie that it takes such joy in hating her." This is dead-on. I hated that painting-burning scene. So uncalled for. The blurb from my review that hit Rotten Tomatoes made it sound like I hated this movie, and I really didn't. I gave it an above-average grade. There's some moving stuff in there (the parental parts, i.e. Angelica, really got to me), and Kendrick and JGL are great together. But I did find it a little too conflict-averse, and I REALLY hated Seth Rogen in it. I know he's Will Reiser's friend, and that's great. But I am so sick of him and his perpetuation of boorish idiocy. I kept thinking, leave this poor movie alone!!
Kurtis, I SO agreed with you about Seth Rogen's role in this! If I'd been JGL's character, there are so many points in the movie where I'd have told Rogen where to get off. In particular, that scene where Rogen burst in on JGL and BDH with the cell phone photo was just so excruciating to watch.
I liked this film a lot. Gordon-Levitt, Kendrick, and Huston are all wonderful. Rogen also does a very good job even if he asked to do some questionable things in the movie. I also liked the scenes with the older men who have cancer. I hope this film builds word of mouth.
Talking about the slim ranks of cancer comedies, has anyone here ever heard about 'Eierdiebe' (English title was 'The Family Jewels', I believe)? It was the last film Robert Schwentke made in Germany before he decided to go to the US to make mediocre films with big stars, it's a comedy about a man treated for testicular cancer, and it may very well be the best German film of the last 10 years - it almost certainly is the funniest. (And just as the '50 50's screenwriter, Schwentke had survived the kind of cancer he was later making a comedy about).
I'd love to recommend it, but I'm afraid it's barely accessible outside Germany. Thinking about it, it sadly is barely accessible even in Germany.
saw 50/50 yesterday... I have had two actual times in my life where I dealt with the ravages of cancer... my wife and I lived for the last 7 weeks with my sister-in-law and her husband while she violently died of pancreatic cancer... thought I would never get over this experience.
And then just 2 years later my lifelong buddy had pancreatic cancer and had nowhere to go after his diagnosis ... he lived for 13 months with us slowly going downhill... I took a year's leave from work to care for him.
Anyone who has gone through these experiences will certainly love this movie... JGL is, along with Ryan Gosling, the finest actor we have today. See him as Hesher andtell me he is not a truly versatile actor.
As for Seth Rogan ... I am not a fan of his... but he did the part as a true friend would ... the scene at the end where JGL finds the book really tells it all.
I loved Anjelica in 50/50...is she out of the supporting actress conversation? Her scenes were so affecting and I don't ever remember her playing a part like this.
Watching JGL in 10 things I hate about you 12 years ago. Just a blink of an eye, it's very wonderful to see JGL grown into a fine actor.
I just saw the movie and loved it. Anjelica Huston was wonderful in her scenes. And yes, I had the big lump in the throat for the last third of the movie.
Rick, I love the fact that you mentioned Ryan Gosling and JGL as the two best actors of their generation/of today. They are my favorite actors.
Saw 50/50 tonight. Moving film. JGL, as usual, is great. As soon as I saw him in Mysterious Skin, I was a fan. Anna Kendrick is great; still a little miscast, though not as much as Up in the Air. I liked her performance in this film much better.
Anjelica is fabulous. Purely and simply. Didn't really like Seth Rogen's character, but I think he did what was asked of him.
JGL is pretty safe for another GG musical/comedy nomination, but maybe this time it can get a little more traction and land him closer to an Oscar nomination.
Bia -- i haven't heard anyone but me talking her up ;) but there's no reason she SHOULDN'T be in the conversation given the scarcity of worthy candidates at this point.
Scarcity of worthy candidates, Nathaniel? I was just thinking that this year has been great for supporting actresses. Admittedly, they're all in non-Oscar-bait films, but between Bridesmaids, The Help, and now the trio in this film, in my mind there are so many great female supporting turns this year...
Evan -- you're right. I suppose i meant scarcity of obvious candidates. I know a lot of people are predicting the Melissa McCarthy thing to happen but i have enormous doubt that it's possible. I like her performance and they're not totaly averse to comedy in the supporting categories but it still seems like a stretch given the crude humor and an honor that would look very much like Oscar following Emmy's lead ;)
To be honest Nathaniel, I guess it's due to the work I do everyday, but I've seen significant others that do the EXACT thing Bryce Dallas Howard's character does in the film after their partner is diagnosed with something (in the cases I'm talking about, MS, but it could anything like Cancer, HIV, whatever). Yes, it's an incredible challenge, and I never want to minimize that, but it's so often that the person living with the chronic condition is the one left on their own. Destroying a painting is small potatoes in comparison, but I'm biased.
On the other hand, this is the best movie I've seen this year after "Drive".