50/50

Hey, let’s make a comedy about a young man dying of cancer! Doesn’t that sound like a great idea? Well, of course, it doesn’t, and I was dubious, but I have to say they mostly pulled it off. It’s probably because the writer went through a similar experience himself, and knows what he’s talking about. The scenes ring true, showing the way people react, which can be predictable and funny, and the stages one goes through. Adam has a buddy, Seth Rogan, a loud and hearty fellow who immediately finds a way to profit from the situation by using the pity factor to get girls. (“Hi, I’m Adam, and I’m dying of cancer!”) Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the guy with the 50/50 chance of surviving, and he’s a quiet everyman with the action swirling all around him. He seems sort of cut off from the world, which is probably how it feels in real life. Of course, it has to get serious as we approach the end, and it jerked some tears from me and Lee. In fact, the ending felt a little dishonest, but not enough to spoil the experience. And I must mention Anna Kendrick, who basically reprises her role in Up in the Air, but there’s nothing wrong with that, as she was brilliant in that film. This poor girl, working on her doctorate, seeing only her third patient, and she hasn’t really got a clue how to counsel him except from books. But she is earnest, she’s doing the best she can, and my heart went out to her almost as much as to Adam.