Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Written by: Will Reiser
Genre: Comedy, Drama

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a nice guy. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke. He recycles. And now, he has cancer. Dumbstruck by the sudden news that his back pain was in fact a spinal tumor, Adam struggles with his changing reality: his artist girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Hoaward) becomes apprehensive; his stoner best friend (Seth Rogen) exploits his situation for sex; and his newbie counselor (Anna Kendrick) squirms her way through textbook therapy. Meanwhile, Adam attempts to deal with the fact that the survival rate of his particular cancer is only fifty percent.

Director Jonathan Levine deftly dodges the sophomore slump in his second feature film following 2008’s The Wackness. In 50/50, Levine substantiates his uncanny ability to exemplify insecurity, uncertainty, and humanness in young people, (youth usually being characterized as infallible). This feat must also be attributed to writer Will Reiser, who is able to deliver to us fresh takes on archetypal characters. These are characters we all know, but when stripped of their superficiality, their resilience becomes all the more meaningful: the “stoner friend” becomes more than comedic relief as his antics ease Adam’s anxiety; the “antagonistic girlfriend” becomes real when her source of aversion is rooted in the unsureness of how to cope.

50/50 is sure to stun some audiences. It is relentless in its comedy, and in its dramatic moments. Viewers expecting a vulgar R-rated comedy will be met with very heavy themes, and viewers expecting a touching human drama might find the coarse language to be quite a shock. But the balance of these two extremes brings out the unexpected results of involuntary laughs and quite a bit of tears. That’s more than other cancer-comedies can say, (Funny People, I’m looking in your direction).

Indie darling Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns in his best performance to date finding great chemistry with unlikely partners. His comedic abilities mesh surprisingly well with Rogen’s; he and Anna Kendrick find a surprising tenderness in each other; and Levitt shows no fear with veteran actor Angelica Huston in some of the movie’s most heartbreaking scenes. But his greatest talent is to thrive on the success of his fellow actors, and the entire cast of this film really steps up to the plate.

The greatest testament to this film is that there will hardly be a dry eye or an unsmiling face in the audience. The filmmakers are true maestros at orchestrating the heartstrings. 50/50 beats the odds in what is surely an unforgettable movie.

USA. 99 minutes. Rated R.

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