50/50 - a comedy drama romance about cancer

[weekender]

I don't know how else to describe this really.  It's a comedy, a drama, a rom-com etc but all based around the fact that the lead character gets cancer.

Now on the face of it, that sounds shit, and if done wrongly could be a big car-crash motherfucker of a film that we'd all point and laugh at.

However, it's actually done pretty well.  The cancer aspect is treated with dignity, the humour varies from black humour to sweet humour (but usually hits the mark) and although the romance aspect is fairly telegraphed it doesn't detract from the film too much.  I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is very good in this, managing to convincingly portray a lot of the emotions I imagine people go through when diagnosed, but without it ever becoming too bleak.  By the way, you probably know him as the teenage kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun, took me nearly 24 hours to work that out.

Seth Rogen adds a great dimension as a seemingly brash buddy, Anjelica Houston does a nice turn as the mom, the supporting cast work equally well and along the way there are some genuinely funny and genuinely touching moments.

My girlfriend's main objection was that it doesn't portray the suffering and misery enough, and she probably has a point.  That said, it is just a film. 2 hours of chemotherapy, whilst it might be realistic, might not be as entertaining.  I did not make this point for personal reasons.

Anyway, this was a film I knew nothing about and decided to watch on the back of a few decent reviews on the likes of Rotten Tomatoes, and I'm glad I did.  Hopefully it will get a bit of recognition because despite the obvious difficulty in describing it, I thought it really was a good film.

[Ja'moke]

I thought it was great, like you say it found a comfortable balance between the drama and the comedy, nothing was over-egged too much. And I have to admit to nearly becoming a bit teary at the end before

Spoiler alert

he goes in for the operation and tells his parents he loves them, especially the bit with his Alzheimer's suffering father.

[close]

[EB Farnum]

...and along the way there are some genuinely funny and genuinely touching moments.

SPOILERS//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Yeah, I was especially touched when Joseph Gordon-Levitt lambasted Seth Rogan for being a total pussy-hound who had neglected to prioritise his cancer, only to discover a 'coping with cancer' book by the toilet in the next scene, complete with folded pages and notes three quarters of the way through, just in case viewers were mislead as to what Seth Rogan's true intentions were for the book.

Or the bit where the camera slowly pans across the room where chemotherapy is administered and Max Headroom isn't in his chair, when all his scenes prior to that involved him joined to Baker Hall's hip, which is the precise point Joseph Gordon-Levitt asks Baker Hall of his whereabouts, only to be devastated by the news of his passing.

[Tiny Poster]

Breaking Bad makes it seem like cancer is exciting, but this made it seem very boring.