50/50

50/50 is the sort of movie that I don't mind giving my money to.

It's also the sort of movie that I will not regret recommending.  So what are you waiting for?  Check it out!

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Well....assuming you're still here....

On to the review!

            If you've seen the trailer, then you have a decent idea of what's going on.      Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been diagnosed with cancer and has about a 50% chance of survival.  What you may not know is that the script loosely autobiographical, based on the real fight with cancer undergone by screenwriter Will Reiser.  Also, Seth Rogen is Will's real life friend, so I really have no idea why they even bothered having Seth play a guy named Kyle when he's really playing Seth Rogen.

            The rest of the plot is pretty simple, really.  Adam's got a girlfriend, Rachael (seriously, guys?  Do we HAVE to spell names the silly way in movies?) played by Bryce Dallas Howard who is kinda....weird.  He also has a very flightly, worry-wart mother in Diane, gamely played by Angelica Huston and a father with Alzheimer's.  As you can surmise, these relationships do not get any better for him once he tells them about his cancer.

            That's it for friends and family, but there are a few more characters that make fantastic, impactful impressions during the film.  First, Adam starts to see a therapist, Katherine, to help him deal with the mental anguish of fighting cancer.  Anna Kendrick plays the role of graduate-school therapist perfectly, even channeling what appears to be a little Michael Cera at a few points, to good effect.  Also, she is freaking adorable.  Even though I was supposed to be emotionally invested in what was happening on-screen, I just wanted to hug her.  Wait...is...is that weird?

            Finally, Matt Frewer and Phillip Baker Hall stop by to play fellow chemotherapy patients and, though they appear far too infrequently for my taste, they may be the best, most fleshed-out minor characters I have ever seen in a film that wasn't a crime drama. 

            50/50 finds a perfect level of balance between humor and drama.  Frewer, Hall and Rogen are the three people mainly responsible for the humor, but Mizz Huston does have a few really funny parts that all hinge on the realistic desperation of an overprotective mother.  Whenever the movie threatens to get too serious for too long, one of those characters pop up and diffuse the tension, but their welcome is never overstayed.

            Honestly, I think that's what makes this film work so well.  It's not so dramatic as to be overbearing, and it treats cancer like real  people would treat it.  Yes, there is depression and anger and sadness in this film.  BUT there is also joy and joking and friends trying to keep friends from freaking the fuck out. 

            That's what made this movie so enjoyable -- the realism.  This movie realistically explores a man's journey through a potentially painful, fear-filled, deadly problem and makes sure not to go too far either way.  Yes, there is doom and gloom and parts where people will cry.  But it's not all doom and gloom, and the humor is natural and easy even if some scenes are still a bit contrived.

            As for the theater....holy shit do I regret going to a movie on a Monday.  I actually thought that it would be nice and quiet, but I forgot about how weekdays are more likely to bring out the type of people who have no problem seeing a movie.  I mean really, who sees a movie on a Monday?

            That is how I ended up sitting in a nearly empty theater with three morbidly obese teenagers who were either incredibly high or incredibly stupid.  They giggled at all the wrong times, wouldn't shut the hell up even when threatened with having the manager called, and had a friend with them who was somehow even more idiotic.  How, you may ask?  Their fourth friend brought a 5 year old to a damn R-rated film.  Just old enough to understand, too young to not jump on every damn stair several times during the film when going to the bathroom.

            So...go see it in theaters anyways!  I still recommend it, but if you just don't wanna to out for this film, please rent it or put it in your Netflix queue the moment it's available on DVD.  It has been a long time since I've seen a good comedy/drama (I refuse to call anything a dramedy.  Ever).  I will say it's much better than Observe and Report or Aventureland, two movies that I did like but didn't love.  In fact, it's very difficult to think of a film that balanced the two genres so well.  The Specials, maybe?  Maybe, but that was more farcical than dramatic....hrmm...

              Well, guess you'll just have to see this and tell me what you think still tops it.