50/50 (2011) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by: Jonathan Levine

Starring:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Houston, Philip Baker Hall, Serge Houde

50/50 is a dramedy that handles its subject of a 27-year-old man facing cancer with a delicate touch and a certain charm and sweetness.   It doesn't descend into despair, even if Adam (Gordon-Levitt) naturally does when facing the prospect of battling malignant tumors on his spine.  How could this happen to him?  He's only 27.  Cancer happens to people older than him and shouldn't even be on his radar.  50/50 is based on a true story and deftly navigates its tone while revealing touches of truth.  

Adam is a producer at a local Seattle radio station with a longtime girlfriend named Rachael (Howard) and a best friend in Kyle (Rogen).   Things are hunky dory, until one day they are not, and Adam visits his doctor complaining of chronic backache.   He is told he has the Big C and denial immediately sets in.  He tells Rachael of his disease and she agrees to support him, although something about her expression tells us she isn't in this for the long haul.   Adam gives her an out, telling her half-heartedly that she doesn't have to take this all on, but she does more out of obligation and guilt than desire to help her loved one.  

A strong aspect of 50/50 is how it conveys universal emotions and situations surrounding cancer.  Kyle thinks Adam should use it as an in for meeting other women, or at least allow Kyle to benefit from it.  One of the strengths of the performances, including Rogen's, is how the characters don't always show us all the cards.  We think we know where their arcs are headed, especially Kyle's, until a moving scene in which we learn exactly how much Kyle cares for Adam and his condition.   We also meet Katie (Kendrick), Adam's therapist and doctor-in-training who apparently hasn't read the part of the textbook where therapists should not fall in love with their patients.  

50/50 doesn't devolve into melodrama or a gutbuster comedy.  It achieves laughs and tears through situations which ring absolutely true.   What a balancing act 50/50 provides.