50/50

Touching, hilarious, poignant, raunchy, and uplifting.  All of these words describe the movie 50/50.  Like the title implies, this movie has split personalities.  Half hilarious buddy comedy, half touching story of a man battling disease.

50/50 does not actually refer to the dual nature of this lovely piece of film making, but to the odds of survival for the protagonist, Adam. Portrayed perfectly by the ever wonderful Joseph Gordon Levitt, Adam is told that he has a rare form of a cancer when he goes to the doctor due to back pain.  He has a large tumor on his spine, the size and placement of the tumor make operating risky so Adam goes through chemotherapy.  Adam is in his mid to late 20's and the people surrounding him do no exactly know how to deal with someone so young facing such an ordeal.

Adam's bast friend is played by Seth Rogen, the producer of the film.  Seth does a great job with the role, primarily because he actually lived this movie.  The movie is based on the real life health problems of a friend of Seth Rogen.  After surviving cancer Rogen urged his friend, Will Reiser, to write about it.  The do succeeded in bringing humor to a terrifying situation, but they also succeeded in portraying the dark side as well.  I truly applaud Reiser for being able to laugh at the hard times.  Finding humor in bad situations is something that I have always admired in people.

I don't want to give away to many of the plot points of the movie.  I think that the sucker punches that occur in movies like this are part of the beautiful artistry of films.  The ability to make a person experience emotions akin to the emotions being felt by the characters is the true mark of a good film.  Joseph Gordon Levitt brought the fear of cancer and the unknown to the screen and into the hearts of the audience.  I was reduced to tears on several occasions, both through the pain and fear that were felt, and through laughter.  

I highly recommend this film, but I recommend it with a bit of a disclaimer.  If you know anyone battling cancer at the moment or have lost anyone to it, you definitely want tissues.  Even if you are lucky enough that the disclaimer does not apply to you, I recommend keeping a stash with you just in case.

Happy Viewing.